Skill Development Exemptions: Entries 69, 70 and 71

Skill Development Exemptions explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

Entry 69 was rebuilt around a new regulator in October 2024, and the rebuild accidentally dropped an entire class of providers. It took a Ministry's intervention, a Council meeting and two more instruments to put them back — and the fifteen-week gap in between was regularised rather than taxed.

Entry 69, as substituted by Notification No. 8/2024-CT(R) dated 08.10.2024 w.e.f. 10.10.2024, exempts services by the NSDC, the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), an Awarding Body recognised by NCVET, an Assessment Agency recognised by NCVET, a Training Body accredited with an NCVET-recognised Awarding Body, and a training partner approved by the NSDC — in relation to the National Skill Development Programme or any other NSDC scheme, a vocational skill development course under the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme, or any NSQF-aligned qualification for which NCVET has approved a qualification package.

What entry 69 said before

Before 10.10.2024, the entry exempted services by the NSDC, a Sector Skill Council approved by NSDC, an assessment agency approved by the Sector Skill Council or NSDC, and a training partner approved by the NSDC or the Sector Skill Council, in relation to:

• the National Skill Development Programme implemented by the NSDC;
• a vocational skill development course under the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme; or
• any other Scheme implemented by the NSDC.

The architecture was NSDC-centred, with Sector Skill Councils as the intermediate layer.

What changed on 10 October 2024

Notification No. 8/2024-CT(R) substituted the entry, replacing the Sector Skill Council architecture with the NCVET one — Awarding Bodies, Assessment Agencies and Training Bodies recognised by or accredited under NCVET, and adding NSQF-aligned qualifications to the list of covered programmes.

And in doing so it dropped a category. As the Handbook records: "The exemption earlier provided for skilling services provided by Training Partners approved by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) was withdrawn by this notification."

The consequence was immediate and practical. "the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship raised concerns that the removal of the exemption for National Skill Development Corporation-approved Training Partners would negatively affect the skilling ecosystem."

The reinstatement, and the regularised gap

"In response, during its 55th meeting, the GST Council recommended reinstating the earlier exemption for National Skill Development Corporation-approved Training Partners. This exemption was reinstated through Notification No. 06/2025-CT(R) dated 16-Jan-2025."

But the reinstatement was not identical to the old position. Per Circular No. 245/02/2025-GST dated 28.01.2025, "the revised exemption now applies only to skilling services provided by Training Bodies accredited with an Awarding Body recognized by National Council for Vocational Education and Training."

And the gap was closed backwards, not taxed:

"the GST Council has regularized the payment of GST for services provided by National Skill Development Corporation-approved Training Partners during the period between 10-Oct-2024 and 15-Jan-2025, where these services were exempt before 10-Oct-2024. This regularization is done on an 'as is where is' basis, meaning it will be handled based on the conditions as they existed during that period."

"As is where is" regularisation is the Council's standard device for a period in which the law changed unintentionally: whatever position a taxpayer actually took in that window is accepted, without demands and without refunds.

Entry 70: assessing bodies under the SDI Scheme

Exempt: "Services of assessing bodies empanelled centrally by the Directorate General of Training, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship by way of assessments under the Skill Development Initiative Scheme."

Two conditions. The body must be centrally empanelled by the DGT, and the assessment must be under the SDI Scheme — a specific programme, not assessments generally.

Entry 71: DDU-GKY training providers

Exempt: services provided by training providers (Project implementation agencies) under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, by way of offering skill or vocational training courses certified by the National Council for Vocational Education and Training.

The certifying body changed with the same October 2024 notification. "Notification No. 08/2024-CT(R) has substituted the word 'National Council for Vocational Training' with the words 'National Council for Vocational Education and Training'. With effect from 10-Oct-2024, the skill or vocational training courses needs to be certified by National Council for Vocational Education and Training."

Why the scheme exists, in the Handbook's words: "There are several challenges preventing India's rural poor from competing in the modern market, such as the lack of formal education and marketable skills. DDU-GKY bridges this gap by funding training projects benchmarked to global standards, with an emphasis on placement, retention, career progression and foreign placement."

Where these sit against entry 66

A provider may qualify twice, and the tests are different.

Under entry 66, a body is an educational institution if it provides an approved vocational education course — para 2(h) — meaning a course run by an ITI or industrial training centre affiliated to the NCVET or a State Council for Vocational Training in designated trades notified under the Apprentices Act, 1961, or a Modular Employable Skill Course approved by the NCVET run by a person registered with the DGT.

Under entries 69 to 71, exemption attaches to a named institutional status — NSDC, NCVET, an NCVET-recognised Awarding Body or Assessment Agency, an accredited Training Body, an NSDC-approved training partner, a DGT-empanelled assessing body, or a DDU-GKY project implementation agency — for named programmes.

So the questions are different. Entry 66 asks what course is being run. Entries 69 to 71 ask who is running it, under whose recognition, and under which scheme. Entry 66 and educational institutions →

And a body that fails both is fully taxable, whatever the social value of the training — the same result the Handbook reaches for private coaching institutes.

Key takeaways

• Entry 69 was substituted on 10.10.2024 by Notification No. 8/2024-CT(R), moving from an NSDC and Sector Skill Council architecture to an NCVET one.
• The substitution dropped NSDC-approved Training Partners, which the Ministry of Skill Development flagged.
• The 55th GST Council recommended reinstatement, effected by Notification No. 06/2025-CT(R) dated 16.01.2025.
• Per Circular No. 245/02/2025-GST, the revised exemption applies to Training Bodies accredited with an NCVET-recognised Awarding Body.
• The period 10.10.2024 to 15.01.2025 was regularised on an "as is where is" basis.
• Entry 70 — assessing bodies centrally empanelled by the DGT, for assessments under the Skill Development Initiative Scheme.
• Entry 71 — DDU-GKY training providers, with certification now required from the NCVET rather than the NCVT since 10.10.2024.
• Entries 69 to 71 turn on institutional status and scheme; entry 66 turns on the course.

Read next

• Education Exemption: Entry 66, Services By and To an Institution
• Exemptions on Supplies Made to Government, Entry by Entry
• Strict Construction, and the Burden of Proving an Exemption

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on entries 66, 69, 70 and 71 and para 2(h) of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), Notification Nos. 08/2024 and 06/2025-Central Tax (Rate), and Circular No. 245/02/2025-GST dated 28 January 2025, as reproduced in the ICAI Handbook on Exempted Supplies under GST (April 2025).