Gujarat has rolled out 11 new-age technical courses across 73 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the state, adding 3,312 fresh training seats in disciplines spanning artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, drone technology and renewable energy. The expansion, announced on 7 June by the state's Labour and Employment Department, is designed to align vocational training with the demands of fast-growing industries and widen employment prospects for young Gujaratis.

Courses Introduced

The 11 new programmes have been launched across 67 government ITIs, two grant-in-aid institutes and four self-financed institutes. The full list includes: Artificial Intelligence Programming Assistant, Drone Pilot, Solar Technician (Electrical), Information Technology, Mechanic Electric Vehicle, Advanced CNC Machining, Additive Manufacturing Technician (3D Printing), Technician Mechatronics, Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Programmer, IoT Technician (Smart Agriculture), IoT Technician (Smart City) and Smartphone Technician-cum-App Tester. The Mechanic Electric Vehicle and Solar Technician (Electrical) programmes have been introduced at scale, while several specialised courses have been deployed in selected institutions.

What the Government Said

State Labour, Skill Development and Employment Minister Kunvarji Bavaliya said the courses were crafted to build a skilled workforce for sectors expanding at pace. 'These courses have been introduced to prepare skilled manpower for rapidly growing sectors such as renewable energy, electric mobility, automation, smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence and digital technology,' he said.

Minister of State Kantilal Amrutiya underlined the alignment objective: 'The primary objective of introducing these new-age courses in the state's Industrial Training Institutes is to keep the training system aligned with changing industrial requirements. These courses will create employment opportunities for youth,' he said.

The Renewable Energy and EV Context

The timing is deliberate. Gujarat accounts for 16.5 per cent of India's total renewable energy capacity, according to official figures, and ranks first in the country in total installed renewable energy capacity and wind power generation, and second in solar energy capacity. The state's installed renewable energy capacity stood at 42.583 gigawatts as of December 2025.

On the electric vehicle front, Gujarat recorded 12,729 EV registrations in March 2026, up from 7,252 in the same month the previous year — a jump of 75.5 per cent. Registrations of pure electric vehicles surged 111 per cent, rising from 5,271 to 11,126 units. To support hands-on learning, 40 electric vehicles have been supplied to ITIs across the state. 'As the number of electric vehicles increases, demand for trained technicians for their maintenance and repair will also rise,' a senior official noted.

Scale of Gujarat's ITI Network

Gujarat currently operates 560 ITIs with a combined training capacity of 2,18,736 seats. This comprises 288 government ITIs with 1,77,912 seats, 100 grant-in-aid ITIs with 16,200 seats and 171 self-financed ITIs with 24,624 seats. The state now offers 138 vocational courses through its ITI network, with the latest additions pushing the curriculum into frontier technology territory.

Broader Policy Alignment

The initiative is being positioned under the broader skill development agenda of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and aligns with the Skill India Mission championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Notably, this is one of the more concrete state-level implementations of that national framework, with sector-specific courses directly mapped to verifiable industry demand signals — EV registration data and renewable capacity figures among them. How quickly trained graduates are absorbed by industry will be the real measure of success.