Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made big announcements especially for the education sector in the 2025-26 budget. Sitharaman announced that 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals next year towards the goal of adding 75,000 seats over the next five years.
“Our government has added almost 1.1 lakh undergraduate and postgraduate medical education seats in 10 years, an increase of 130 per cent. In the next year, 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals towards the goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next five years,” she said. The FM also announced 10,000 fellowships will be provided for technology research in IITs and IISc over the next five years.
“Five national centres for excellence for skilling with global expertise and partnerships will be set up and 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs will be set up in government schools in the next five years to cultivate scientific temper in young minds,” she said.
Sitharaman said broadband connectivity will be provided to all government secondary schools and primary healthcare centres in rural areas. “I had announced three centres of excellence in AI for agriculture, sustainable cities, and health in 2023. Now, a Centre of Excellence in AI for education will be set with an outlay of Rs 500 crore,” she said, in a big Artificial Intelligence (AI) push in education.
From University Grants Commission (UGC) to National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), most bodies under the Ministry of Education have received an increased allocation.
Top business schools — Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs), which witnessed consistent cut in their allocated budget in a push to make them self-reliant, have also received an increased allocation of Rs 251 crore as against a revised estimate of Rs 227 crore last year.
However, the budget granted to Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISERs) has seen a drop of Rs 137 crore. Similarly, the allocated amount for World Class Institutions, has been reduced by more than 50 per cent. Last year, the amount allocated was Rs 1000 crore which has now been reduced to Rs 475 crore.
(With inputs from PTI)
