Establishments with 30 or more regular or contract employees can hire 2.5% to 15% of workforce under both the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS). That band is the first filter. If you are below it, the conversation is different.
What both schemes give employers
Flexibility to run apprenticeship in tailored courses. A commercially viable opex story: stipend drawback, zero statutory deductions on apprentices, and in some cases an option to utilise manufacturing opex through CSR budget. A funnel of industry-ready manpower. Lower recruitment spend over time. Strictly apprenticeship training — there is no employer–employee relationship.
Where the money differs
NAPS stipend drawback is up to INR 1,500 per month per apprentice. NATS drawback is up to INR 4,500 per month per graduate apprentice and INR 4,000 per month per diploma apprentice. If your pipeline is graduates and diploma holders, NATS is usually the comparison that matters. If you are building a broader shop-floor funnel, NAPS is often the starting point.
What trainees get
Learn and earn. Induction into industry work practices. Government and industry certification. Training duration of 6 to 36 months, with financial support in the first 12 months. Stipend equal to or higher than relevant minimum wages. Live training with industry experts as trainers.
The mistake that kills both schemes
Treating apprentices as cheap employees. The moment the relationship is run like employment — without training design, without the stipend rules, without respecting that it is not an employer–employee contract — you lose the commercial and compliance logic the schemes were written for.