Union Minister for Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan lauded the Budget 2026–27, calling it a Yuva Shakti–driven budget that gives a boost to education and employment creation and presents a blueprint for the next phase of development.

The Minister informed that the total budget allocation for the Ministry of Education has reached ₹1,39,289.48 crore, marking an 8.27% increase over BE 2025–26.

#ViksitBharatBudget includes all. It gives boost to education and employment-creation and presents a blueprint for the next phase of development. https://t.co/9GZ38hSnVU

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) February 1, 2026

Shri Pradhan stated that the Union Budget 2026–27 is a solid blueprint for fully harnessing Bharat’s growth potential, fostering inclusive development across all sections, and achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat. He expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for delivering a futuristic, yuva-shakti-driven, pro-people, employment-oriented, and growth-stimulating Union Budget 2026–27 that includes everyone, emphasises people’s well-being, and brings cheer to all, particularly the poor and middle-class households.

He further said that, inspired by the three Kartavyas of ‘accelerating and sustaining economic growth, fulfilling aspirations and building capacities of all, and ensuring every family and community has access to resources, opportunities, and amenities’, the Viksit Bharat Budget will spur all-round growth across sectors and promote self-reliance in strategic and frontier areas. This will facilitate ease of living, further invigorate the education, innovation, and skilling landscape, strengthen MSMEs, boost tourism, augment healthcare, and transform Tier-II and Tier-III cities into new growth centres. This will add momentum to the ‘Reform Express’ for achieving the next phase of India’s growth while also ensuring that economic growth translates into tangible gains for over 140 crore citizens.

The Minister said that the three Kartavyas outlined by the Finance Minister, inter alia, focus on strengthening the capacity of the yuva for realising the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The Minister highlighted that India has achieved one of the highest rates of female participation in STEM education globally. To further enhance and encourage the enrolment of girls in STEM institutions and courses, one girls’ hostel in every district will be established through Viability Gap Funding and capital support, he added.

He also informed that the Budget proposes the setting up of five University Townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistics corridors. These planned academic zones will host multiple universities, colleges, research institutions, skill centres, and residential complexes, he added.

He informed that a high-powered ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee has been proposed to recommend measures focusing on the services sector, which is the core driver of Viksit Bharat. The Committee will examine the impact of emerging technologies, including AI, on job and skill requirements. It proposes specific measures for embedding AI in the education curriculum from the school level onwards and upgrading State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) institutes for teacher training, among others.

Shri Pradhan lauded the setting up of India’s Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges. This project aims to provide a platform to two million professionals by 2030 for the growing AVGC sector.

Highlights of Budget Allocation 2026-27

Higher Education

• The overall Budget Allocation in FY 2026-27 is Rs. 55727.22 Cr out of which Scheme allocation is Rs. 10142.40 crore and non-Scheme allocation is Rs. 45584.82 crore.
• There has been an overall increase of Rs. 5649.27 Cr (11.28%) in the Budget Allocation of Department of Higher Education in the FY 2026-27 with respect to FY 2025-26.

 

ALLOCATIONS TO MAJOR AUTONOMOUS BODIES (Higher Education)

• Allocation in Central Universities has been kept at Rs. 17440.00 Cr, which is Rs 748.69 Cr (4.49%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.
• UGC has been allocated Rs. 3709.00 Cr in 2026-27, which is Rs. 373.03 Cr (11.18%) more than BE 2025-26.
• IITs have been allocated Rs. 12123.00 Cr in 2026-27, which is Rs. 774.00 cr (6.82%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.
• For NITs, Rs. 6260.00 Cr has been allocated in FY 2026-27, increasing the allocation by Rs. 572.53 Cr (10.07%) in r/o BE 2025-26.
• Deemed Universities have been allocated Rs. 650.00 Cr in 2026-27, which is Rs. 46 Cr (7.62%) more than BE 2025-26.
• Support to Indian Institute of Management (IIM) have been allocated Rs. 292.00 Cr in 2026-27, which is Rs. 40.11 cr (15.92%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.

 

ALLOCATIONS TO MAJOR SCHEMES (Higher Education)

• For the scheme PM-One Nation One Subscription (PM-ONOS), an allocation of Rs. 2200.00 Cr has been kept in FY 2026-27.
• For the scheme PM Research Chair (PMRC), which is a new scheme in 2026-27, an allocation of Rs. 200.00 Cr has been kept in FY 2026-27.
• For scheme ‘Centre of Excellence (CoEs) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Education’, which is a new scheme in 2026-27, an allocation of Rs. 100.00 Cr has been kept in FY 2026-27.
• An allocation of Rs. 900.00 Cr has been kept for World Class Institutions, which is Rs. 424.88 cr (89.43%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.
• In the scheme ‘Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education-EAP (MERITE)’, an allocation of Rs. 300 Cr has been made in FY 2026-27, which is Rs. 80.00 cr (36.36%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.
• For scheme ‘Establishment of 3 Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in Artificial Intelligence (AI), an allocation of Rs. 250 Cr has been made in FY 2026-27, which is Rs. 50.00 cr (25.00%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.

• For PM-USHA, the budget has been kept at Rs.1850 Cr for FY 2026-27, which is Rs. 35.00 cr (1.93%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.
• For the scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Uchhatar Shiksha Protsahan Yojna’(PM-USP), the budget allocation has been kept at Rs.1560 Cr in FY 2026-27.
• In the scheme ‘National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS)’, an allocation of Rs.1250.00 Cr has been made in FY 2026-27, which is Rs. 72.00 cr (6.11%) more than allocation in BE 2025-26.
• In the scheme ‘PM-Research Fellowship (PMRF)’, an allocation of Rs. 600 Cr has been made in FY 2026-27.
• In the scheme ‘National Mission in Education through ICT’, an allocation of Rs. 650 Cr has been made in FY 2026-27.

 

School Education & Literacy

• The Budget Allocation for the FY 2026-27 of ₹ 83562 Cr is the highest ever for the Department of School Education & Literacy.
• There has been an overall increase of ₹ 4990 Cr (6.35%) in the Budget Allocation of Department of School Education and Literacy in the FY 2026-27 from BE 2025-26. As compared to RE of FY 2025-26, there has been an increase of ₹ 12995 Cr (18.42 %).
• The highest ever Budget Allocation may be seen in the Autonomous Body of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) at ₹ 10129.41 Cr & ₹ 6025 Cr respectively. Allocation in KVS has increased by ₹ 625.57 Cr and NVS by ₹719.77 Cr as compared to Budget allocation of FY 2025-26.
• Budget Allocation of FY 2026-27 in Flagship Schemes have increased i.e Samagra Shiksha (by ₹ 850.02 Cr), PM-POSHAN (by ₹ 250.00 Cr) with respect to Budget Allocation (BE) of FY 2025-26. As compared to RE 2025-26, allocation in Samagra Shiksha has increased by ₹ 4100.00 Cr (10.79%), allocation in PM-POSHAN has increased by ₹ 2150.00 Cr (20.28 %) and allocation in PM-SHRI has increased by ₹ 3000 Cr (66.67%).
• A new flagship initiative under Central Sector Schemes of the Department of School Education and Literacy named Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) has been started at the RE 2025-26 stage and allocation made in this Scheme for the FY 2026-27 is ₹ 3200 Cr.
• Out of the overall Budget Allocation in FY 2026-27 of ₹ 83562.26 Cr, the Scheme allocation is ₹ 66641.02 Cr and Non-Scheme Allocation is ₹ 16921.24 Cr.
• Increase in Scheme Allocation in BE 2026-27 is ₹ 3552.02 Cr (5.63 %) as compared to BE 2025-26. As compared to RE 25-26, increase in Scheme Allocation is ₹ 12032 Cr (22.03%) and non-Scheme allocation has increased by ₹ 963.12 Cr (6.04%) in BE 2026-27.

 

****

AK

(रिलीज़ आईडी: 2221734) आगंतुक पटल : 702