Sat Oct 04 07:02:33 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided information:

**Modi Launches ₹62,000 Crore Youth Initiative, Focuses on Bihar Ahead of Elections**

**New Delhi, October 4, 2025** – Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unveiled a massive ₹62,000 crore package of youth-centric initiatives, with a significant portion earmarked for the poll-bound state of Bihar. The initiatives, launched in New Delhi, aim to boost skilling, education, and employment opportunities for young people across the country, with a particular emphasis on Bihar’s development.

The centerpiece of the announcement is the PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs) scheme, a centrally sponsored program with a ₹60,000 crore investment. PM-SETU focuses on overhauling India’s ITI ecosystem through the upgrading of 1,000 government ITIs, creating a hub-and-spoke model with 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. The modernized ITIs will be government-owned but industry-managed, benefiting from global co-financing from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

“With a strong focus on skilling and innovation, our government is preparing the Yuva Shakti to lead the future,” Modi said at the launch.

In the first phase, special attention will be given to ITIs in Patna and Darbhanga, Bihar.

Further emphasizing the focus on Bihar, Mr. Modi launched the revamped ‘Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana,’ providing nearly five lakh graduates with a monthly allowance of ₹1,000 for two years, coupled with free skill training. He also relaunched the redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, offering interest-free education loans of up to ₹4 lakh to ease the financial burden of higher education. Already, over 3.92 lakh students have availed loans exceeding ₹7,880 crore under the existing scheme.

The Bihar Yuva Ayog, a statutory commission for individuals aged 18 to 45, was also formally inaugurated to channel and harness the potential of the state’s young population.

Rounding out the initiatives, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University, designed to provide industry-oriented courses and vocational education to create a globally competitive workforce in Bihar.

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