India, July 22 -- As many as 621,000 applications were received under Round 1 of the Prime Minister's Internship Scheme (PMIS) from 181,000 candidates, but only 82,000 offers were made, 28,000 accepted them, and 8,700 joined, the government told Lok Sabha on Monday.

The scheme launched in October 2024 aims to provide 10 million internships over five years, with 125,000 in the first year alone.

In response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's question, minister of state for corporate affairs Harsh Malhotra told Lok Sabha that PMIS's Round 2 was launched in January 2025. He added that about 455,000 applications were received and 71,000 offers rolled out under it. Malhotra did not provide further details. A total of 9,453 internships were und...