Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday outlined a proposal to create five university townships near key industrial corridors to better integrate higher education with industry. She was presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha.
Highlighting the proposal during her Budget speech, she said the planned university townships will be developed as large education hubs located close to major industrial townships. The initiative aims to bring universities, research institutions, skilling centres, and industry partners into a single ecosystem.
According to the government, the university townships will focus on disciplines aligned with local industry needs, including engineering, advanced manufacturing, logistics, clean energy, electronics, and emerging technologies. By situating campuses near industrial corridors, the government hopes to enable closer collaboration between academia and industry, facilitate internships and apprenticeships, and shorten the gap between classroom learning and real-world application.
The proposal seeks to address long-standing concerns around uneven access to quality higher education and the concentration of top institutions in a few urban centres, she said. Officials said the townships are expected to act as anchors for new urban development, attracting faculty, students, startups, and supporting services, while creating education-led economic clusters outside traditional metros.
Sitharaman said the initiative reflects the government’s broader intent to align education policy with India’s long-term growth priorities, ensuring that talent development keeps pace with industrial expansion.
1 January 2026
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