A+ for education in Budget 2025: From IITs to medical seats, what’s in store for students?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025 in Parliament on Saturday, announcing a significant boost for the education sector.

With a strong emphasis on education, skilling, research, and technological innovation, Sitharaman’s speech highlighted a major push for artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education, signalling the government’s intent to equip students with future-ready skills.

Here’s what the
Union Budget 2025 has in store for the education sector.

Sitharaman has announced that 10,000 new seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals across the country in the coming year.

This initiative is part of the Centre’s broader plan to expand medical seats by 75,000 over the next five years. The finance minister said the government has already increased medical seats by 100 per cent over the past decade, bringing the total addition to 1.1 lakh undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) seats.

The Finance Minister brought good news for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), announcing a significant infrastructure push to support their growing student population. She noted that student enrollment in 23 IITs has doubled over the past decade.

To accommodate this surge, additional infrastructure will be developed in five IITs established after 2014, creating space for 6,500 more students. These include IIT Palakkad, Goa, Bhilai, Jammu, Dharwad, and Tirupati.

Sitharaman also announced the expansion of hostel and other facilities at IIT Patna, which was set up in 2008.

Notably, some of these newer IITs are still in the process of completing their campus construction, and the investment aims to accelerate their development.

As part of the 2025 Budget, Sitharaman announced that the government will provide 10,000 PM Research Fellowships for students in IITs and IISc Bangalore. These fellowships will come with enhanced financial support to promote advanced research and innovation in top institutions.

Additionally, she revealed plans to establish five National Centres of Excellence. These centres will focus on upskilling students by leveraging global expertise and partnerships, and help sharpen skills for the ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ initiative.

She also announced that The National Institute of Food Technology and Management will be set up in Bihar to encourage incomes of farmers, provide skilling opportunities, and create employment for the youth.

To encourage the spirit of innovation and foster a scientific mindset among students, Sitharaman announced the establishment of 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in government schools over the next five years.

Launched in 2016 under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) by NITI Aayog, the Atal Tinkering Labs initiative aims to provide hands-on experience in technology and innovation to school students. Currently, there are around 8,706 such labs in various government and private schools, with nearly 60 per cent claimed to be located in government institutions.

In a major push to integrate technology into education, Sitharaman revealed plans to set up three Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI). With a total allocation of Rs 500 crore, this initiative aims to drive AI-led advancements in learning and skill development.

The announcement follows the Economic Survey 2024-25, which underscored the growing influence of AI on India’s workforce, particularly in low-skill and low-value-added jobs.

The survey called for the creation of “robust institutions” to help workers transition into medium- and high-skilled roles, where AI can complement rather than replace human labour.

“Although the impact of AI on labour will be felt across the world, the problem is magnified for India, given its size and relatively low per capita income,” the report stated.

In a move to promote Indian languages, the Union Budget 2025 introduced the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, which will provide digital books in regional languages for school and higher education students.

Announced by Finance Minister Sitharaman, the scheme seeks to make education more accessible by offering textbooks and learning materials in Indian languages.

Through this initiative, students in schools and universities will gain access to digital resources in a variety of regional languages.

In a significant move to enhance digital education, Sitharaman announced plans to boost broadband connectivity in government schools across India. The government will leverage the BharatNet project to provide high-speed internet to schools located in the most remote areas.

Launched in 2011, the BharatNet project aims to bring high-speed internet to villages and towns through an optical fibre network. This initiative will enable better access to online learning platforms, educational videos, and various digital resources.