By Mr. Rajeev Juneja, President, PHDCCI
In Union Budget 2026–27 the Finance Minister focused heavily on bridging the gap between classroom learning and industry requirements, particularly through AI and creative technologies. With the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 already in implementation phase, it is critical that a multipronged approach be adopted to create a future-ready workforce. This is exactly what the Budget proposes to do.
Governance & employability: The need of the hour has been addressed by the Budget.
• Education-to-Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee: A high-powered committee will be established to recommend measures that align education with job market needs. Its primary focus is to help India capture a 10% share of the global services market by 2047.
Such committees have been set up on several occasions in the past. Key thing will be the composition of this committee and the financial teeth that it will have.
• AI Impact Assessment: This committee will also assess how emerging technologies, specifically Artificial Intelligence, are reshaping job roles to ensure the national curriculum and skilling programmes remain relevant. Organisations such as Nasscom have been doing such assessment from time to time and this committee may not be able to say anything new.
Skilling & emerging technologies: Most crucial aspect of skilling.
• AVGC Content Creator Labs: To boost the “Orange Economy” (creative industry), 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges will host content creator labs for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC), supported by the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai. This has been the demand of industry for long. After the recent setting up of IICT in Mumbai, it is heartening to see the Government now stregthening the formative agenda of the institute.
• SAMARTH 2.0: A modernized textile skilling ecosystem will be launched in collaboration with industry partners to upgrade vocational training in the textile and technical textile sectors. The recent geo-political disruptions have taken a heavy toll on textile units in recent months. Upskilling focus on this sector will help the units find new markets.
• AI for Education: A dedicated Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education was announced with an outlay of ₹500 crore. The reach and the location of this centre will be important for it to be able to make a real impact on the ground.
Higher education & infrastructure:
• University townships: The Government will support states in developing 5 University Townships located near major industrial and logistics corridors. These will integrate universities, research centers, and skill institutes with residential facilities. The proximity of university towns with industrial corridors will lead to the desired mingling of industry and academia and reduce the gap between the two.
• Girls’ Hostels: To improve access for female students, especially those in STEM or lab-heavy courses, the budget proposes setting up one girls’ hostel in every district through Viability Gap Funding (VGF). This much needed and belated move will lead to greater participation of girls in technical higher education.
• New Institutes: * A new National Institute of Design will be established in the Eastern region.
• Three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) were proposed, along with the upgrading of seven existing ones.
Sector-specific skilling: The selection of sectors for skilling shows the Government’s focus on sunrise sectors, such as healthcare and tourism. More initiatives to provide boost for skilling in green mobility would have been desirable.
• Healthcare: Support for training one lakh allied health professionals across 10 disciplines and a separate plan to skill 1.5 lakh caregivers.
• Medical Seats: An addition of 10,000 medical seats this year, moving toward a 5-year goal of adding 75,000 seats.
• Veterinary Science: A loan-linked capital subsidy scheme to add 20,000 professionals in the veterinary and para-veterinary sectors.