Over 70 lakh employed under PM-VBRY so far, say PM; transfers Rs 2,400-cr sops for 15 lakh jobs

The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY) has benefited over 70 lakh people since its launch on August 15, 2025. The Union government disburse...

What Happened

The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY) has benefited over 70 lakh people since its launch on August 15, 2025.
The Union government disbursed incentives worth Rs 2,400 crore to support approximately 15 lakh new jobs in a recent tranche.
Around 10 lakh beneficiaries have already received incentives after completing the mandatory six-month employment milestone.
Women account for approximately 30% of PM-VBRY beneficiaries to date.
The scheme targets first-time formal-sector workers and the employers who hire them, with incentives delivered through the EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) infrastructure.

Static Topic Bridges

PM-VBRY — Scheme Structure and Design

PM-VBRY is an Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme announced in the Union Budget 2024-25 and launched on August 15, 2025. It is implemented through the EPFO and is designed to bring first-time workers into the formal economy by simultaneously incentivizing employees and employers. The scheme has two operational parts:

Part A (Employee Incentive): First-time EPFO-registered employees earning up to Rs 1 lakh/month receive one month's wage as incentive (maximum Rs 15,000), paid in two installments after 6 months and 12 months of continuous employment.
Part B (Employer Incentive): Employers receive Rs 3,000/month per additional new employee for two years; manufacturing sector employers receive an additional two years of support.
Eligibility window: new hires joining EPFO-registered establishments between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2027.
Employees must not have been an EPFO member or Exempted Trust member before August 1, 2025.
Total outlay: Rs 99,446 crore.
Target: generate 3.5 crore new jobs over two years, with approximately 1.92 crore first-time workforce entrants.

Connection to this news: The 70 lakh beneficiary figure and Rs 2,400 crore disbursement in just 10 months after launch demonstrate rapid uptake of the scheme's formal-employment-linkage mechanism.

Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) — Concept and Policy Rationale

Employment Linked Incentives tie government subsidies directly to the creation of verifiable new jobs rather than to capital investment or sector-level targets. By routing incentives through EPFO, ELI schemes generate a digital audit trail — each new PF account represents a new formal worker. This approach addresses two structural problems simultaneously: the incentive to hire and the incentive for workers to accept formal employment (which typically comes with lower take-home pay but long-term social security benefits).

ELI is distinct from Production Linked Incentive (PLI) — PLI rewards output/investment; ELI rewards net headcount addition.
EPFO data is the verification mechanism: a new Universal Account Number (UAN) confirms a first-time formal worker.
PM-VBRY is India's first large-scale ELI scheme at the national level.
Budget 2024-25 introduced three ELI schemes; PM-VBRY is the flagship combining all elements.

Connection to this news: The scheme's rapid scale-up to 70 lakh beneficiaries in under a year validates the ELI design: EPFO-linked verification ensures fiscal accuracy while the direct-transfer architecture minimises intermediary leakage.

Formal vs. Informal Economy — The Formalization Imperative

India's informal economy employs an estimated 80–90% of the workforce. Workers in the informal sector lack access to provident fund, gratuity, health insurance, and other social protections. Government policy since 2016 has consistently aimed to push formalization — through Jan Dhan, GST, EPFO incentives, and now PM-VBRY — because formal employment generates tax revenue, widens social security coverage, and is measurable for policy assessment.

India's labour force participation rate and formal employment ratio are both below peer economies at comparable income levels.
EPFO net subscriber additions are a commonly used proxy for formal job creation.
Formalization is a stated objective of the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

Connection to this news: PM-VBRY's design — requiring EPFO registration as a precondition for incentives — directly incentivizes the transition from informal to formal employment, making every disbursement a measurable unit of formalization.

Key Facts & Data

PM-VBRY launched: August 15, 2025 (Independence Day).
Total scheme outlay: Rs 99,446 crore.
Target jobs: 3.5 crore over two years (approx. 1.92 crore first-time entrants).
Beneficiaries as of June 2026: over 70 lakh.
Disbursed in recent tranche: Rs 2,400 crore for 15 lakh jobs.
Beneficiaries who cleared 6-month milestone: ~10 lakh.
Women beneficiaries: ~30% of total.
Employee incentive cap: Rs 15,000 (one month's EPF wage), paid in two installments.
Employer incentive: Rs 3,000/month/employee for 2 years (4 years for manufacturing).
Eligibility window: August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2027.
Salary ceiling for employee eligibility: Rs 1 lakh per month gross.
Implemented via EPFO infrastructure.