Budget 2025: Increase in allocation to focus on Education 4.0 | Expectations

Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present Union Budget 2025 in the Parliament on February 1, following the tradition of recent years. Ahead of the announcement of the second full-fledged budget of the Modi 3.0 government, it’s time to look at the expectations of education sector stakeholders from the upcoming financial document that will govern the future of the country’s students.

In light of the last Union Budget announcement, education sector received an allocation of ₹73,498 crore in the financial year 2024-25, which is the highest ever for the Department of School Education and Literacy. The department was granted an overall increase of ₹12,024 cr (19.56%) in the FY 2024-25.

Expectations of education sector from Budget 2025

• IIM Raipur director Professor Ram Kumar Kakani said,” Examining the trajectory of Indian Higher Education budget we hope to achieve the historical target of allocating 6% of GDP to education, recommended by the Kothari Commission in 1964-66.”

Since education is a part of the concurrent list, the centre bears only one-fourth of the total government spending on education. The total budgeted expenditure on education as a percentage of the GDP is about 3.5%, the remaining three-fourths comes from the State Governments. According to UNESCO, India allocates up to 4.6% of GDP on education.

Urging for increased allocation for STEM-based research and micro-credential courses, IIM Raipur official said, “We believe that equating IIMs with IITs in terms of government support could significantly strengthen the valuable contributions of premier management institutions.”

• Highlighting significant skill gap between educational qualifications and employment, Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) director Dr. Prabina Rajib said, “Collaborations between government bodies and private institutions under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model are forecast to nurture digital learning infrastructure and enhance skill-based knowledge.”

Demanding subsidies to international students seeking higher education in India, BIMTECH official said, “There is a need for an enhanced focus on the “Education 4.0 Revolution,” leveraging Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to transform learning and bridge inequalities both in India and globally.”