The PM Internship Scheme, run by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, places young people in twelve-month internships with India's top companies and pays them to be there. It exists because the gap between a degree and a first job is where most graduates stall, and an internship on the CV is what closes it.
This is not a government job and it does not become one. It is paid work experience in the private sector, funded by the government. Treated for what it is, it is one of the most useful schemes available to anyone between 21 and 24 who is sitting at home preparing for exams.
What you get
| Benefit | Amount | Paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly stipend | Rs 5,000 | Rs 4,500 government (DBT) + Rs 500 company (CSR funds) |
| One-time grant | Rs 6,000 | Government, on joining |
| Duration | 12 months | — |
| Insurance | PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima and PM Suraksha Bima cover | Government |
The Rs 4,500 arrives directly in your Aadhaar-linked bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer. The Rs 500 comes from the company. At least half the internship has to be actual work in a real environment — not classroom training — which is the clause that makes the experience worth something on a CV.
Who is eligible
- Age 21 to 24 as on the date specified in the round you are applying to
- Not in full-time education and not in full-time employment. Candidates enrolled in distance or online learning programmes are eligible
- Passed one of: 10th class, 12th class, ITI certificate, diploma from a polytechnic, or a degree — BA, BSc, BCom, BCA, BBA, B.Pharma
- Indian citizen
The qualification list is the part people miss. A 10th-pass candidate is eligible. This is not a graduates-only scheme, and the lower qualification levels are considerably less competitive.
Who is excluded — read this before you apply
The exclusions are strict and they are checked. You are not eligible if:
- You graduated from an IIT, IIM, IISER, NID, IIIT or a National Law University
- You hold a CA, CMA, CS, MBBS, BDS, MBA or any master's or higher qualification
- Anyone in your family earned more than Rs 8 lakh in the last financial year
- Any member of your family holds a permanent government job
- You are already receiving a stipend or benefit under a central or state government apprenticeship or skilling scheme, such as NATS or NAPS
"Family" means you, your parents and your spouse. A contractual or temporary government employee in the family does not disqualify you — only a permanent one does.
These are not soft criteria. Misstating income or qualification gets the application cancelled, and cancellation after placement means losing the internship.
How to apply
- Open the PM Internship portal at pminternship.mca.gov.in.
- Register with your mobile number and email, and verify the OTP. Use a number you actually have access to — every subsequent update comes through it.
- Complete your profile: personal details, Aadhaar, educational qualifications, skills and location preference.
- The portal generates a resume automatically from your profile. You do not upload one. Which means your profile is your application — a thin profile produces a thin resume.
- Browse the internships on offer and apply. You can select up to five.
- Submit, and wait for companies to shortlist. Offers are communicated through the portal and your registered email.
Using the five choices properly
Five is the cap, and the common mistake is spending all five on the biggest brand names in the most popular cities. Those listings draw thousands of applications each.
A better spread: two at large companies you genuinely want, two in your own state or district where the applicant pool is smaller, and one in a sector adjacent to your qualification that others overlook. Location preference matters more than candidates expect — a listing in a tier-2 city with the same stipend is far less contested.
Check the sector and role on each listing rather than only the company name. A twelve-month internship in a function unrelated to anything you want to do is twelve months you cannot spend elsewhere.
Is it worth taking if you are preparing for government exams?
An honest answer, because this is the real question for most people reading this.
Take it if you are out of college with no income, your family needs you to be earning something, and you would otherwise be at home. Rs 5,000 a month plus the grant, plus real work experience and a reference, beats a year of unstructured preparation that most people do not sustain anyway.
Think harder if you are in the final run-up to a specific exam with a date on it, or you are inside the last year of an age window — NDA, SSC GD, defence entries. A twelve-month commitment can close a door that does not reopen.
Note also that it is not government service. It earns you no seniority, no age relaxation, and no preference in any recruitment. Anyone telling you it leads to a government job is wrong.
Problems candidates hit — and what to do
"Registration will not complete." The portal requires a working mobile number and email for OTP on both. If the OTP does not arrive, try outside peak hours — the portal is slowest in the first days of a round.
"My Aadhaar is not verifying." Your name and date of birth must match between Aadhaar and your educational certificates. A spelling difference is enough to fail the check. Correct the Aadhaar record first; it is faster than correcting a certificate.
"My resume looks empty." The portal builds it from your profile, so fill in skills, any part-time or informal work, projects, languages and certifications. Candidates who complete every field get shortlisted over candidates with identical qualifications and a half-filled profile.
"I have applied and heard nothing." Shortlisting is done by the companies, on their own timelines, and not every application gets a response. Keep the portal checked and your email monitored, and apply again in the next round if this one does not convert.
"My family income is just over Rs 8 lakh." Then you are not eligible, and applying anyway wastes the slot. The criterion is gross income for the last financial year across the family.
"Can I apply while doing a distance degree?" Yes. Distance and online programmes are explicitly allowed. Only full-time enrolment disqualifies you.
When applications open
The scheme runs in rounds rather than continuously. Each round opens with a fresh set of company listings and its own closing date, and the eligibility cut-off date for age is tied to the round.
Register your profile now even if no round is currently open. The profile carries forward, and when a round opens you are applying on day one instead of spending the first week on registration — which is exactly when the best listings fill.