From correspondents in Delhi, India, 09:30 PM IST

The Indian government will like to see the first institute under its ambitious skill development programme to be in place by July.

'I want to move very fast on this,' Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told an interactive session with members of the Confederation of Indian Industry here Tuesday.

'I am prepared. I want to see how well you respond,' he told industrialists.

The minister has proposed in India's national budget for 2008-09 unveiled Feb 29 to establish a non-profit organisation to impart skill development with a contribution of Rs.10 billion from the government.

The proposal calls for a capital of Rs.150 billion from both the government and the private sector to address the challenge of imparting the skills required by a growing economy to reap the potential the country holds for a demographic dividend.

The budget also proposed to spend Rs.7.5 billion in 2008-09 to upgrade 300 Indian Technical Institutes (ITIs) that impart vocational training.

The minister expressed concern Tuesday that the industry had not responded to the extent envisaged to the government's invitation for adopting various ITIs.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)