Context: The National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) has been helpful in increasing skilling of youth, enabling increased employment opportunities for them. 
National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) 

• NSDF meets its objectives through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which is an industry led ‘Not For Profit Company’ set up for building skill development capacity and forging strong linkages with the market. 
• The National Skill Development Fund was set up in 2009 by the Government of India for raising funds both from Government and Non-Government sectors for skill development in the country.
• The Fund is contributed by various Government sources, and other donors/ contributors to enhance, stimulate and develop the skills of Indian youth by various sector specific programs.
• A public Trust set up by the Government of India is the custodian of the Fund. The Trust accepts donation, contribution in cash or kind from the Contributors for furtherance of objectives of the Fund.

NSDC: National Skill Development Corporation

• NSDC is Public Private Partnership (PPP) under Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• It was founded in 2009 as not-for-profit company by Ministry of Finance to address need for providing skilled manpower across various industry sectors.
• Government of India (GoI) through MSDE holds 49% of share capital of NSDC, while private sector has balance 51% of the share capital.
• NSDC aims to promote skill development by catalysing creation of large, quality and for-profit vocational institutions.
• Its objective is to create training capacity in the country; fund vocational training initiatives and create market ecosystem for skill development.
• Its mandate is to train 150 million people by 2022.
• It is also involved in re-skilling and also in catering to skilled manpower requirement of overseas markets, most notably that of Japan (under TITP) and UAE.
• NSDC acts as a catalyst in skill development by providing funding to enterprises, companies and organizations that provide skill training. 
• It also develops appropriate models to enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives.
• NSDC promotes establishment of model and aspirational skill centres known as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for imparting skill training in every district throughout the country. 

National Skill Development Mission

The Skill India initiative is under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. This initiative consists of:

• National Skill Development Mission
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
• National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015
• Skill Loan Scheme

Objectives of National Skill Development Mission

• Implementing the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) which will allow opportunities for long-term, as well as short-term training, leading to productive employment and career improvement. 
• Using the framework to maintain a balance between the industry/employer demand and the workforce which will lead to a sustainable livelihood because of determined training. 
• Providing facilities of re-skilling and up-skilling to the workforce of the unorganised sectors of the industry.
• Ensuring high-quality training standards through high-quality teaching and benchmarked institutions according to national and international standards which result in a highly-skilled workforce and global job opportunities.
• Support weaker and disadvantaged sections of society through focused outreach programs and targeted skill development activities.
• Enabling pathways for transitioning between the vocational training system and the formal educational system, through a credit transfer system.
• Maintaining a national database, known as the Labour Market Information System (LMIS), which will act as a portal for matching the demand and supply of skilled workforce in the country. 
• The LMIS, will, on the one hand, provide citizens with vital information on skilling initiatives across the country. 
• On the other, it will also serve as a platform for monitoring the performance of existing skill development programs, running in every Indian state.