Union Budget 2025: Experts Applaud Focus on Research, AI, and Innovation to Drive Technological Leadership

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her eighth Budget on February 1, 2025, with a strong focus on integrating AI into education and accelerating infrastructure growth at IITs. Check out expert reactions here.

Union Budget 2025: Experts Applaud Focus on Research, AI

Union Education Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the highly anticipated Union Budget 2025, which included important announcements for the education sector. Key highlights focused on integrating AI into education, infrastructure growth at IITs, and expanding medical education across the country. The centre has allocated INR 50,077.95 crore to the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education for the 2025-26 financial year, marking an increase from the INR 47,619.77 crore allocated for the financial year 2024-25.

Union Budget 2025 Focuses on Empowering Youth with Skill Development Initiatives

Acknowledging the critical role of skilling the youth, the Union Budget 2025 announced the creation of five National Centres of Excellence for Skilling, designed to equip young people with the skills needed for the 'Make in India, Make for the World' vision. These initiatives will focus on curriculum design, trainer training, a skills certification framework, and regular reviews. Additionally, the centrally sponsored schemes under the Ministry of Skill Development have been allocated INR 3,050 crore.

AI for Education Gets a Boost with INR 500 Crore

A new Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence for Education, with an outlay of INR 500 crore, will be established, alongside the creation of the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management in Bihar. The AI CoE will focus on advancing research in AI and its applications in education, aiming to develop personalized learning models, automated assessments, and AI-powered tutoring systems. The centre will collaborate with leading educational institutions, research organizations, and private companies to create AI-driven solutions tailored for the education sector.

Expert Reactions on Education Budget 2025

Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman of Sona College of Technology, Salem, and Founder and CEO of Vee Technologies, emphasised the significance of the Union Finance Minister’s announcement to establish a Centre of Excellence in AI for the education sector. She urged that the initiative be scaled up to foster the development of innovative technologies aimed at rapidly reskilling the workforce, especially those at risk of losing jobs due to AI integration in various sectors.

She also suggested that, in alignment with the FM's focus on AI and research, technical higher education institutions in the private sector that excel in new technologies such as AI, robotics, and Data Sciences be granted autonomous or central university status through a fast-track process. This, she noted, would enhance capacity building in cutting-edge technologies at a much lower cost compared to the INR 6,500 additional engineering seats proposed for IITs in the budget.

Advancing AI and Skilling to Prepare India’s Youth for Global Challenges

Prof. Indranil Manna Vice Chancellor, BIT Mesra, Ranchi says the much-awaited Union Budget 2025 delivers a promising roadmap for India's education sector. The establishment of a Centre of Excellence for AI in Education with an outlay of ₹500 crore will drive innovation and cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

In addition, the expansion of infrastructure in IITs, allowing for 6,500 additional seats will further strengthen India's technical education ecosystem. We are also encouraged by the focus on skilling through five National Centres of Excellence and the Deeptech Fund of Funds, which will facilitate and empower our youth to lead in global technological advancements.

R&D Labs Depend on ANRF Funding, But Private Institutes Need a Bigger Boost

Prof. Indranil Manna Vice Chancellor, BIT Mesra, Ranchi also added, that currently, research and development labs in India are heavily dependent on funding from ANRF, a recent government initiative to create an ecosystem for the sector. However, additional focus on private educational institutions in the current Budget would have given a booster dose to the sector since a higher number of students enrol in private institutes than government ones. These measures, coupled with the emphasis on digital education and research fellowships, will certainly propel India toward becoming a global knowledge and innovation hub.

Multi-Faceted Approach; Growth through multiple small measures rather than a single big idea

Dr. Partha Chatterjee, Dean of Academics and Professor of Economics, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR shares his insights on its impact and said, “This budget comes at the time when the growth rate in India has slowed down a notch and the uncertainty in the world is rising. This is quite a common-sense budget. The reduced income tax burden due to the new tax slabs is likely to boost consumption, particularly in the urban area. The different initiatives and schemes announced in the agriculture sector is likely to reduce risk of agricultural production and raise income in the rural area. That will boost consumption in the rural areas. Similarly, a focus on labor-intensive sectors like tourism is likely to boost income and consumption. There are a couple of announcements that are likely to benefit investment by MSMEs and startups. Raising the bar for classification criteria for MSMEs is a welcome step.

He also added, "Announcing a fund of funds for startups will boost that sector. While no details are yet available, a fund of funds for deep tech is also a good idea and can augur technological innovation in the country. This complements the announcement of ten thousand fellowships for technological research. However, what is disappointing is that it is limited to only IITs and IISc. We need a deepening of research across several universities and institutes - limiting the fellowship to only a few institutes is contrary to that. The government’s commitment to reforms is reassuring, though the budget was short of details in this and omitted mention of certain crucial reforms like the labor market reforms. Finally, keeping fiscal deficit Overall, a sensible budget, which focuses on multiple fronts to boost growth rather than one big idea. That also means, much will depend on the details and implementation.”  

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• Education Budget 2025: Engineering Institutes Get a Financial Lift: IITs Lead with INR 10,384 Cr
• Union Budget 2025: Nirmala Sitharaman Allocates ₹1.28 Lakh Crore for Education; IITs See Surge, IIMs Face 50% Cut