Budget 2025-26: Key Measures to Nurture Innovation and Skilling

IN NEWS — Budget 2025-26: Key Measures to Nurture Innovation and Skilling

ANALYSIS

1. Strengthening School-Level Innovation Ecosystem

1. The Budget proposes 50,000 new Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in Government schools over the next five years.
2. Objective: Cultivate curiosity, innovation, and scientific temper among students.
3. Focus: Hands-on learning, STEM exposure, and early-stage R&D mindset.
4. Complementary measure: Broadband connectivity to all Government secondary schools and rural primary health centres under BharatNet, enabling digital learning infrastructure.

2. Expansion and Modernisation of Higher Education Infrastructure

1. Over the past decade, student strength in IITs has grown from 65,000 to 1.35 lakh.
2. Additional infrastructure will be created in the five IITs established after 2014 to accommodate 6,500 additional students.
3. Infrastructure expansion is also announced for IIT Patna, especially hostel and allied facilities.

3. Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme

1. The Budget introduces the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, aimed at providing digital-form Indian language books across school and higher education levels.
2. Significance:
   • Supports National Education Policy objectives on mother-tongue instruction.
   • Reduces digital and linguistic barriers in learning.
   • Boosts availability of quality academic content in multiple Indian languages.

4. Centres of Excellence for Skilling

1. Five National Centres of Excellence for Skilling will be set up with global partnerships.
2. Core activities:
   • Curriculum design
   • Training of trainers
   • Skills certification framework
   • Periodic assessment reviews
3. Target: Equip youth for “Make for India, Make for the World” manufacturing, fostering export-competitive workforce capabilities.

5. Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Education

1. A new Centre of Excellence in AI for Education will be created with an outlay of ₹500 crore.
2. Purpose:
   • Promote AI-driven adaptive learning tools
   • Develop India-specific educational AI solutions
   • Improve learning outcomes through technology integration

6. Boost to Research, Development & Innovation

1. Allocation of ₹20,000 crore for private-sector-driven R&D and innovation.
2. Intended to catalyse industry-academia collaborations and accelerate the innovation ecosystem.
3. Focus sectors likely include deep tech, manufacturing, frontier science, and industrial R&D.

7. PM Research Fellowship Scheme Enhancement

1. Provision of 10,000 fellowships for technological research in IITs and IISc over the next five years.
2. Enhanced financial support aimed at retaining top talent in Indian research institutions.
3. Aligns with national priorities in building advanced, indigenous research capacities.

NECESSARY STATIC PART (Relevance for UPSC)

1. Atal Tinkering Labs: Implemented by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
2. BharatNet Project: Aims to digitally connect all Gram Panchayats; implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL).
3. National Centres of Excellence for Skilling: Aligned with Skill India Mission and PMKVY frameworks.
4. PM Research Fellowship Scheme: Flagship programme to promote doctoral research in premier institutions like IITs and IISc.
5. AI Centres of Excellence: Support India’s AI strategy under Digital India and National Education Policy 2020.

Updated – 01 Feb 2025 ; 01:39 PM | PIB | News Source: PIB (https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2098380)