Karnataka has upgraded its 150 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) with the help of Tata Technologies Limited (TTL) and will start training students in advanced courses from 1 November, said Minister for Skill Development, Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana.

While admission to these courses has already taken off, the new curriculum in these institutes has been decided keeping the demands of the industry in mind, he added, addressing the media after inspecting an ITI which is being upgraded at Peenya in Bengaluru.

As per the media briefing, approval has been accorded to the curriculum of the trades including Advanced CNC Machining, Basics of Design and Virtual Verification, Artisan Using Advanced Tools, Industrial Robotics and Digital Manufacturing, Manufacturing Process Control and Automation and Mechanic Electric Vehicle.

Junior training officers (JTOs) will be trained in these new technology areas over a period of three years. This training is said to benefit around 20,000 students to take up new courses and one lakh students from ITIs, polytechnics and engineering colleges who will be able to study the new short-term courses.

Three hundred subject matter experts will be deployed for the first two years and 150 subject matter experts will be deployed in the 3rd year to assist JTOs and to handhold the ITI staff in understanding and exploring the new technology areas.

The total cost of the project is Rs 4,636 crore (government of Karnataka 12 per cent and Tata Technologies Limited 88 per cent). In addition to this, the state is spending Rs 220 crore for creation of new civil infrastructure. This additional investment is also said to bring in latest equipment like CNC machines, laser cutting machine, additive manufacturing or 3D printing machine, industrial robotics, and advanced software.