Every HR leader in India has faced this question at some point. You hear that the government has apprenticeship schemes that can help you hire trained talent at subsidised costs, reduce your permanent headcount burden, and stay compliant with the Apprentices Act. You start researching. And within five minutes you’re staring at two acronyms, NAPS and NATS, wondering whether they’re different names for the same thing or two entirely separate programmes with different rules, different eligibility criteria, and different financial benefits.
They are different. Meaningfully so. And choosing the wrong one or not choosing at all – is costing Indian businesses real money in wasted hiring budget, compliance gaps, and talent development opportunities left on the table.
This guide breaks down exactly what the NAPS Scheme and the NATS Scheme are, the key differences between NAPS and NATS, and which one your business should be using right now. By the end, you’ll know precisely which programme fits your workforce strategy and how to start using it immediately.
The short answer: NAPS (National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme) is broader. It covers all candidate types and all sectors, with direct financial reimbursement to employers. NATS (National Apprenticeship Training Scheme), governed by the Ministry of Education, was originally designed for engineering graduates and diploma holders but has since been expanded to include general stream graduates such as B.Com, BA, and B.Sc as well.
Most Indian businesses, especially MSMEs, will benefit more from NAPS. Large enterprises hiring technical talent benefit from running both together.
What Is the NATS Scheme?
The National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) is a central government programme administered by the Ministry of Education through four Boards of Apprenticeship Training (BOAT) located in Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur, and Mumbai. The NATS Scheme was initially designed for graduates and diploma holders in engineering and technology disciplines. However, it has now been expanded to include non-engineering graduates from general streams such as BA, B.Com, and B.Sc, broadening its reach across a wider talent pool.
If you have fresh B.Tech engineers, polytechnic diploma holders, or technical graduates in your hiring pipeline who need practical on-the-job experience before they’re fully productive, NATS is built for exactly that. Apprenticeships under the NATS Scheme run from six months to three years depending on the trade and sector. The government contributes to the apprentice’s stipend, reducing the employer’s cost of building a technical bench.
NATS is particularly powerful in manufacturing, engineering, IT, and infrastructure sectors where you need people who already understand the theory and need hands-on industry exposure to become genuinely useful. Apprentices trained under NATS convert to permanent hires at significantly higher rates than any other entry channel because they’ve already spent months learning your systems and culture.
Employers register on the NATS portal at nats.education.gov.in, submit their establishment details, and onboard apprentices through a process managed by BOAT. YOMA Business Solutions handles the entire registration, sourcing, and compliance process for employers, see the NATS page for details.
What Is the NAPS Scheme?
The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) is governed by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and is significantly broader in scope than NATS. While the NATS Scheme targets only technical graduates, the NAPS Scheme covers the full spectrum of apprenticeship categories from school leavers and ITI pass-outs to optional trade apprentices and sector-specific vocational trainees.
The NAPS Scheme’s standout feature is direct financial benefit to employers. The government reimburses 25% of the stipend paid to each apprentice, up to Rs. 1,500 per month per apprentice. For a business running 100 apprentices, that is Rs. 1.8 lakh per year going back into your workforce budget. At 500 apprentices, it is Rs. 9 lakh. The numbers add up fast, and most Indian businesses are not claiming money they are legally entitled to. Additionally, for fresher/non-ITI candidates, the government reimburses basic training costs up to Rs. 7,500 for 500 hours or 3 months through a registered Basic Training Provider (BTP).
The NAPS Scheme covers apprenticeships of 6 months to 3 years across all industries – retail, healthcare, FMCG, manufacturing, hospitality, logistics, IT services, and more. For MSMEs in particular, NAPS is one of the most underused government benefits available. The scheme is specifically designed to make apprenticeship hiring financially viable for businesses that cannot absorb the full cost of training entry-level talent.
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Differences Between NAPS and NATS: A Direct Comparison
Both schemes operate under the Apprentices Act. Both involve government support for employer costs. But the differences between NAPS and NATS are significant enough that choosing the wrong one means leaving money and talent on the table. The table below sets it out clearly.
| Factor | NAPS Scheme | NATS Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Governing Body | Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) | Ministry of Education – Board of Apprenticeship Training (BOAT) |
| Target Candidates | Broad – Class 5 pass-outs to ITI graduates, all sectors | Engineering and technology graduates, diploma holders, AND general stream graduates (BA, B.Com, BSc) |
| Sectors Covered | All industries – retail, healthcare, FMCG, manufacturing, logistics | Technical & engineering-heavy sectors |
| Government Stipend Support |
25% of stipend reimbursed to employer, up to Rs. 1,500/month per apprentice. Plus basic training cost reimbursement up to Rs. 7,500 for 3 months/500 hours for fresher candidates. | 50% of stipend reimbursed to employer by Government of India via DBT |
| Duration | 6 months to 3 years | 6 months to 1 year |
| Registration Portal | apprenticeship.gov.in apprenticeshipindia.org | nats.education.gov.in |
| Best For | MSMEs, high-volume hiring, broad entry-level talent build | Large enterprises building a technical talent pipeline |
The differences between NAPS and NATS come down to two core questions: What kind of talent are you hiring? And what sector does your business operate in? If your answer is technical graduates, diploma holders, or general stream graduates who need structured industry exposure, NATS is an option worth exploring. If your answer is “a broad mix of entry-level and vocationally trained candidates across any sector,” NAPS is your more flexible and financially rewarding option.
NAPS vs NATS Eligibility: Who Qualifies Under Each Scheme?
Understanding NAPS vs NATS eligibility is critical before you invest time in the registration process. Getting it wrong means your apprentices may not qualify for the subsidy, or your establishment may face a compliance issue during audit.
Under the NATS Scheme, eligible candidates include graduates and diploma holders from recognised institutions. While the scheme originally focused on engineering and technology disciplines such as B.Tech, B.E., and polytechnic diploma holders, it now also extends to non-engineering graduates from general streams like BA, B.Com, and B.Sc. Candidates who have already completed an apprenticeship under NATS are not eligible for a second term. The NATS Scheme is structured for fresh technical graduates entering the workforce. Candidates must NOT have any prior work experience, and those who have undergone any other government skill development training programme are also ineligible.
The NAPS Scheme’s eligibility is deliberately wider. Any candidate who has passed Class 5 or above is eligible for school leavers, ITI graduates, vocational trainees, and sector-specific certificate holders all qualify. For employers, your establishment needs to be registered under the Apprentices Act, 1961, and your industry must fall within notified apprenticeship trades. Establishments must have more than 30 employees to be mandatorily covered. Those with 4-29 employees can participate optionally. Establishments with 3 or fewer employees cannot engage apprentices at all. Also, the employer must engage apprentices within a band of 2.5% to 15% of total workforce strength (including contractual staff). These are compliance-critical details HR leaders need. Most organised sectors in India qualify. The NAPS Scheme also allows optional trades, giving employers flexibility to train candidates in job roles specific to their operations rather than only in prescribed trades.
Both schemes require employer registration on the respective government portals before any apprentice can be formally enrolled. YOMA handles this registration and all subsequent compliance documentation for clients, removing the single biggest barrier most businesses cite for not having enrolled yet.
NAPS vs NATS Benefits for Employers: What You Actually Gain
The real conversation about NAPS vs NATS benefits goes well beyond the stipend reimbursement headline. The business case is stronger and more layered than most articles acknowledge.
Under the NAPS Scheme, employers receive two key financial benefits. First, the government reimburses 25% of the stipend paid to each apprentice, up to ₹1,500 per month per apprentice. Second, for fresher (non-ITI) candidates, it reimburses basic training costs up to ₹7,500 per apprentice (for up to 500 hours or 3 months of training).
Under NAPS-2, the payment flow has also been streamlined for transparency. The government’s stipend share is transferred directly to the apprentice’s Aadhaar-linked bank account via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Employers are required to pay the full stipend upfront and then file reimbursement claims on a quarterly basis through the official portal. This structure ensures timely payments to apprentices while allowing employers to recover the eligible portion systematically.
The indirect benefit is arguably larger: you get access to a pipeline of pre-screened, trainable talent that costs significantly less than a lateral hire, requires no recruitment agency fee, and comes with government-backed training frameworks that reduce your onboarding investment. For high-volume hiring – seasonal spikes, expansion into new geographies, building operational bench strength, the NAPS Scheme is one of the most cost-effective workforce tools available in India today.
The NATS Scheme’s benefit is more targeted. You get engineering-trained talent that already understands technical fundamentals and needs practical application experience. Under NATS, the government reimburses 50% of the apprentice’s monthly stipend directly to the employer, a stronger reimbursement rate than the 25% offered under NAPS, making NATS a highly cost-effective channel for building a technical talent bench. And apprentices trained under NATS convert to permanent hires at higher rates than almost any other talent channel, because they have already spent months inside your operations.
Both schemes carry an important compliance benefit too. Establishments covered under the Apprentices Act are required to engage a certain percentage of apprentices relative to their workforce. A properly structured NAPS and NATS programme means you stay compliant with that requirement without scrambling when an audit comes.
Which Scheme Is Right for Your Business?
Here is a direct answer. If you run a small or mid-size business – retail, logistics, manufacturing, FMCG, healthcare, hospitality – start with NAPS. The financial reimbursement is immediate, the candidate pool is broader, and the NAPS Scheme’s flexibility across trades and industries makes it the easier first step into structured apprenticeship hiring.
If you run a large enterprise in engineering, IT, or manufacturing and need a structured pipeline of technically qualified talent – engineering graduates, diploma holders, and general stream graduates who need structured on-the-job training in your domain. The two schemes are not mutually exclusive. India’s smartest manufacturing and engineering businesses today use the NAPS Scheme for volume entry-level hiring and the NATS Scheme for the technical talent pipeline. That combination gives you both breadth and depth.
And if you have been meaning to implement either scheme but have not yet acted, the answer is simpler than you are making it. The registration process, compliance requirements, MIS uploads, and stipend reimbursement claims are all manageable with the right partner.
How YOMA Business Solutions Makes NAPS and NATS Work for You
YOMA Business Solutions is one of India’s most experienced government apprenticeship scheme partners, with an end-to-end implementation model that takes the operational complexity of both NAPS and NATS completely off your HR team’s plate.
Most businesses that have not implemented these schemes cite the same obstacles: they do not know how to register, they are worried about compliance audits, they do not have a reliable candidate pipeline, and they do not have the bandwidth to manage MIS uploads and stipend reimbursement claims on top of everything else. YOMA solves all of it.
1. End-to-end registration and compliance. YOMA manages establishment registration on both government portals, apprentice enrolment, and all ongoing MIS filing requirements, so your HR team stays compliant without taking on additional admin.
2. Candidate sourcing from a 40,000+ pre-screened talent pool. Whether you need 50 ITI-qualified apprentices for a manufacturing line under NAPS or 20 engineering graduates for a NATS technical programme, YOMA reduces your time-to-hire significantly.
3. Stipend reimbursement management. Claiming the 25% reimbursement under the NAPS Scheme requires timely and accurate portal submissions. Under NAPS-2, the process has evolved: the government’s share (25% of stipend, up to ₹1,500) is transferred via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) directly into the apprentice’s Aadhaar-linked bank account.
This means employers must pay the full stipend upfront, maintain proper attendance and payment records, and upload proof on the portal. Reimbursement is then claimed on a quarterly basis through RDAT/SAA, after which the eligible amount is processed. This DBT-driven flow directly impacts how finance teams structure payroll, documentation, and compliance timelines.
YOMA manages the entire claims lifecycle from documentation and portal filings to tracking reimbursements so your business receives every rupee it is entitled to without manually navigating government systems.
4. Nationwide reach across 330+ deployment locations. Gurgaon, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and beyond, your apprenticeship programme can scale across geographies without hitting a sourcing wall.
Backed by the BYLD Group and trusted by 160+ clients, YOMA’s government schemes team combines compliance expertise with the candidate infrastructure to make your apprenticeship programme productive from day one.
The Bottom Line on NAPS vs NATS
India’s two flagship apprenticeship schemes – NAPS and NATS, are among the most underutilised workforce development tools available to Indian businesses today. The financial benefits are real. The talent pipeline is real. The compliance advantage is real. What has been missing for most businesses is a clear understanding of the differences between NAPS and NATS and a reliable partner to handle implementation.
Now you have the first part. For the second, YOMA Business Solutions is the partner that has done this across 330+ locations in India, for businesses from scaling startups to large enterprises. Whether you need NAPS’s broad financial incentives, NATS’s structured graduate training pathway, or both – YOMA has the infrastructure, compliance expertise, and candidate database to make it work.
Frequently Asked Questions: NAPS vs NATS
The main differences between NAPS and NATS are the governing body, target candidate, and financial structure. The NAPS Scheme is run by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and is open to all candidates from Class 5 pass-outs upwards, across all industry sectors. The NATS Scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Education, was originally designed for engineering graduates and diploma holders in technical disciplines. It has now been expanded to also include non-engineering graduates from general streams such as BA, B.Com, and B.Sc, making the scheme accessible to a broader range of candidates. NAPS reimburses 25% of stipend to the employer (up to Rs. 1,500/month); NATS reimburses 50% of the monthly stipend to the employer via DBT.
Yes. Many large Indian enterprises run both schemes simultaneously. The NAPS Scheme for high-volume entry-level and ITI-qualified hiring and the NATS Scheme for engineering graduates entering technical roles. The two schemes serve different talent segments and have separate registration portals, but there is no restriction on running both in parallel. YOMA helps clients manage both programmes together.
For the NAPS Scheme, registration is at apprenticeship.gov.in under the Ministry of Skill Development portal. For the NATS Scheme, registration is at nats.education.gov.in. Both require establishment details, trade information, and compliance documentation under the Apprentices Act, 1961. YOMA manages the complete registration process for employers - contact their team to get started.
For NAPS vs NATS eligibility:
- NAPS accepts a wide range of candidates, including those who have passed Class 5 or above. This includes school leavers, ITI pass-outs, and vocational trainees, making it accessible for entry-level and shop-floor roles.
- NATS is designed for graduates and diploma holders from recognised institutions. While it originally focused on engineering degree holders (B.Tech, B.E.) and polytechnic diploma holders, it now also includes non-engineering graduates from general streams such as BA, B.Com, and B.Sc.
However, NATS has stricter eligibility conditions:- Candidates must have no prior work experience.
- Candidates who have undergone any other government-funded skill development training are not eligible.
Both schemes require candidates to be Indian nationals and meet the minimum age criteria defined under the Apprentices Act.
No. The 25% stipend reimbursement under the NAPS Scheme requires employers to submit accurate and timely claims through the apprenticeship portal, supported by correct MIS data. Many businesses miss reimbursements because of submission errors or missed deadlines. Under NAPS-2, the process has an added layer that HR and finance teams must manage correctly: the government’s 25% stipend share (up to ₹1,500) is disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) directly into the apprentice’s Aadhaar-linked bank account.
This means the employer must first pay the full stipend to the apprentice, maintain accurate attendance and payment records, and upload proof of payment on the portal. Reimbursement claims are then filed on a quarterly basis through RDAT/SAA.
Any mismatch in attendance, bank details, or delayed submissions can lead to rejected or delayed claims, which is why having a tight documentation and filing process is critical to actually realizing the scheme benefits.
YOMA's compliance team manages the entire claims process to ensure employers receive every rupee they are entitled to under the NAPS Scheme without manual follow-up.
