With artificial intelligence taking centre stage, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting her eighth Budget speech, revealed plans for a ₹500 crore Centre of Excellence in AI for education.

“I had announced three Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for agriculture, health, and sustainable cities in 2023. Now, a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education will be set up with a total outlay of ₹500 crore,” she said.

She also disclosed that, over the next five years, 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs will be established in government schools, igniting curiosity, inspiring innovation, and fostering a passion for science in young minds.

The Finance Minister further revealed that new infrastructure will be created for five IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) established after 2014 to accommodate 6,500 additional students. Over the past decade, student enrollment across 23 IITs has surged by 100%, growing from 65,000 to 1.35 lakh. “Hostel and other infrastructure capacity at IIT Patna will also be expanded,” she added.

On internet connectivity, the Finance Minister announced the implementation of the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme to provide digital Indian language books for school and higher education, aiming to help students better understand their subjects. “Broadband connectivity will be provided to all government secondary schools and primary health centers in rural areas under the Bharatnet project,” she said.

Medical Education

Sitharaman noted that the government has supported medical education by adding 1.1 lakh UG and PG medical education seats in the past decade. Looking ahead, 10,000 more seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals, aiming to reach the ambitious goal of 75,000 seats over the next five years.

Speaking on the establishment of Deep Tech Fund, Sandeep Nailwal, founder Blockchain For Impact (BFI) and co-founder, Polygon says, “India's commitment to deep technology is evident through the establishment of a dedicated Deep Tech Fund, designed to empower start-ups across both technical and non-technical domains. A centre of excellence in artificial intelligence for education will be set up with a total outlay of 500 crores. This is already an extension to the centres established for agriculture, health and sustainable cities back in 2023.

"Such initiatives by the government will help position India as a global leader in deep tech innovation. That being said, I feel there’s a lot of potential to inculcate AI across multiple sectors and harnessing the power of collaboration.” Nailwal adds.