India's Skill Impact Bond (SIB), launched in 2021 as the country's first Development Impact Bond (DIB) for skilling, flips traditional funding: investors front training costs and get repaid only when job placement and retention targets are met. This bold, results-first model is led by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in collaboration with global backers like HSBC India, British Asian Trust, JSW Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Dubai Cares, and others. A third-party evaluator verifies outcomes.

By mid-2025, SIB has trained nearly 29,000 youth across 24 states 74% are women from marginalized backgrounds and achieved a 73% job placement rate, with strong retention milestones. Women trainees have made exceptional strides: certification rose to 92%, job placement to 81%, and three-month retention to 66%, narrowing gender disparities. Plus, female self-employment surged from 6% to 14%.

Jharkhand leads enrolments, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana. Yet challenges persist, particularly the gender pay gap women continue to earn somewhat less despite receiving comparable outcomes. 

Beyond numbers, SIB represents a quiet but meaningful shift in India's skilling paradigm placing real jobs and retention, not enrolment, at its core. It’s building a scalable, inclusive blueprint aligned with India’s long-term vision of economic transformation.