New Delhi: In reply to a question asked in the Lok Sabha, Minister of Labor and Employment Harish Rawat said that the Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGE&T) is implementing a Vocational Training Improvement Project (VTIP).

The project, inter alia, covers the upgradation of 400 Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) from 33 States/UTs including the State of Karnataka.

An official press release said, "All the 400 ITIs have been identified on the basis of proposals received from the respective States/UTs and as per Project design. The fund sharing under the project is in the ratio of 75:25 [90:10 for North Eastern States] between the Central and State Governments."

"An amount of Rs. 2 to 3.5 crore is allocated and sanctioned for each ITI on the basis of the Institutional Development Plan (IDP) submitted by each ITI."

"The central funds are released to the respective State Governments in installments. The State Governments are required to utilize the earlier released central funds including the state share," the official release added.

Thereafter, on the basis of submission of proposals and furnishing of utilization certificate, subsequent installment of central share is released. Central funds amounting to Rs. 626.62 crore has so far been released to various State Governments including the State of Karnataka under VTIP.

The implementation period for the Project is 5 years and the scheduled closing date of VTIP is 31.12.2012. Therefore, balance funds as per demands from the State Government would be released by December 31, 2012.