In the Union Budget 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced budgetary support for an additional 6,500 more seats in the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), the premier colleges of the country that millions of students compete to enter each year.
“Total number of students in 23 IITs has increased 100 % from 65,000 to 1.35 lakh in the past 10 years. Additional infrastructure will be created in the 5 IITs started after 2014 to facilitate education for 6,500 more students. Hostel and other infrastructure capacity at IIT Patna will also be expanded,” the Finance Minister said.
Governed under the Indian Institute of Technology Act 1961, there are a total 23 IITs in India. IITs are considered as the premium institutions for the STEM education in the country. In the Union Budget 2023-24 Rs 841 crore while Rs 10,202.5 crore in 2024-25 has been allocated to the IITs.
As research and development (R&D) is one of the main objectives of the current government, these announcements are expected to push forward the overall education and innovation sector.
Under the Atal Innovation Mission, the government is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India. The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity and innovative ideas among young kids.
In addition, FM added, “I have 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.”
