Central Footwear Training Institute, Chennai

Choosing the right programme

CFTI Chennai runs the Ministry of MSME's ESDP Scheme through three programmes of different lengths, so match the one that fits what you need:

• The one-day Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme is for people exploring self-employment and wanting to understand the opportunities and schemes in the MSME sector.
• The one-week Management Development Programme is for existing and prospective entrepreneurs who want to strengthen their managerial, financial, marketing and operational skills.
• The six-week Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme is for people who want hands-on technical and entrepreneurial training in leather goods making, shoe upper fabrication and footwear manufacturing, with the aim of setting up a micro or small enterprise.

How applications work

Apply through the institute's admissions and pre-enquiry routes, by phone or by email. The programme pages do not list a standalone application form or a fixed deadline for the scheme, and training is arranged anywhere in India based on the requirement.

Who is eligible

The scheme states a minimum qualification of 5th standard and an age range of 18 to 35, and is open to both men and women. It is aimed at students, unemployed youth, women, aspiring entrepreneurs, and existing and prospective MSME entrepreneurs.

The Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Chennai, is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India. It was formerly the Central Footwear Training Centre (CFTC), and it works from 65/1, GST Road, Guindy, Chennai. It trains people for the footwear industry and runs the government's entrepreneurship and skill programmes for the MSME sector.

The institute came into existence in July 1957 with the assistance of the Ford Foundation. The departmentally run Central Footwear Training Centre was converted into an autonomous institution under the Ministry of MSME with effect from 1 January 1996, for better functional autonomy, and renamed Central Footwear Training Institute, Chennai. It has been modernised with UNDP assistance under the National Leather Development Programme.

How its programmes work

CFTI Chennai implements the Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESDP) Scheme of the Ministry of MSME. The scheme is designed to promote entrepreneurship and develop skilled human resources for the MSME sector, and the institute delivers it through three sub-programmes. The Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme (EAP) is a one-day course that creates awareness about self-employment and the opportunities in the MSME sector. The Management Development Programme (MDP) is a one-week course that works on the managerial, financial, marketing and operational skills of existing and prospective entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme (ESDP) itself is a six-week course of intensive technical and entrepreneurial training, covering leather goods making, shoe upper fabrication and the manufacturing of footwear, aimed at equipping participants to set up and run micro and small enterprises.

Who can apply

The ESDP Scheme is open to students, unemployed youth, women, aspiring entrepreneurs, and existing and prospective MSME entrepreneurs. The stated eligibility is an age of 18 to 35, a minimum qualification of 5th standard, and the programmes are open to both men and women. Training is run anywhere in India based on the requirement.

How to apply

Admissions and enquiries go through the institute's own routes on its website, including its pre-enquiry and contact forms, by phone on 044-22501529, or by email. The ESDP pages do not state a standalone application form or a deadline for the scheme itself.

Who runs it

CFTI Chennai is an autonomous body of the Government of India, under the Ministry of MSME. It is a footwear training institute rather than a startup incubator: its work is vocational footwear training and the government's entrepreneurship and skill schemes, not startup intake, co-working space for outside founders, or seed funding.