Since its inception, one of the major pillars of NSDC’s strength are Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which play a vital role in bridging the gap between what the industry demands and what the skilling requirements ought to be. The National Occupational Standard is one of the most significant contributions of NSDC to India's skilling ecosystem - something that was made possible by the SSCs, which are national partnership organizations that bring together all the stakeholders - industry, labour and the academia. The SSCs operate as an autonomous body and could be registered as a Section 8 Company, or a Society. NSDC is mandated to initiate and incubate SSCs with initial seed funding to facilitate their growth and enable them to achieve self-sustainability in a time bound manner.

The National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 laid out Skill India Mission, and envisaged the creation of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) by NSDC. Priority sectors have been identified based on the skill gap analysis.

The most critical outcome of skill training is employment, whether self or wage employment. To facilitate employment, Sector Skill Councils have been encouraged to develop their own placement portal and mobile apps. These portals are linked to demand aggregation and are aimed at meeting the skill needs of the industry. The 360-degree interface of the portal connects candidates and training partners with recruitment firms & potential employers. Some of the SSCs have already started using such portals, while a few others would follow.

Till date, the NSDC Board has approved 38 Sector Skill Councils. There are over 600 Corporate Representatives in the Governing Councils of these SSCs