New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday unveiled plans for five university townships in her Union Budget speech.
The government will support states through a challenge-based funding route to develop these integrated academic hubs in the vicinity of major industrial and logistics corridors. The initiative aims to bridge longstanding gaps between academia and industry by fostering innovation, research, and employment-ready skills in a clustered ecosystem under Viksit Bharat.
“Our government will support states through the challenge route, creating five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistics corridors,” Sitharaman said.
“These planned academic zones will host multiple universities, colleges and research institutions, skill centres and residential complexes,” she added.
Though specific sites remain tentative, these are likely to be set up in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka, aligning with capex boosts to Rs 12.2 lakh crore.
Complementing townships, Sitharaman proposed girls’ hostel in every district to aid female enrollment and retention in higher education, particularly in STEM fields that involve extended laboratory hours and intensive study schedules. “In higher education, STEM institutes’ prolonged hours of studying and laboratory work pose some challenges for girl students. Through VGF or capital support, one girls’ hostel will be established in every district,” the Finance Minister explained.
The budget also proposed support for the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, to establish AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across the country. “India’s animation, visual effects, gaming and comics, AVCG, is a growing industry, projected to require 2 million professionals by 2030. I propose to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVCG content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools all over the country; and 500 in colleges,” Sitharaman said.
She also announced plans to set up another National Institute of Design. “The Indian design industry is expanding rapidly, and yet there is shortage of Indian designers. I propose to establish a new National Institute of Design to boost design education and development,” she said, adding that the NID would be set up in the eastern region.
While the first institute was established in 1961 in Ahmedabad, the other NIDs are located in the cities of Kurukshetra, Amaravati, Jorhat and Bhopal.
In addition to education infrastructure, the Budget also proposed setting up or upgrading four major telescope infrastructure facilities. “To promote astronomy and astrophysics via immersive experiences, four telescope infrastructure facilities will be set up or upgraded.”
The key projects under the initiative include National Large Solar Telescope, the National Large Optical Infra Telescope, the Himalayan Chandra Telescope, and the Cosmos 2 Planetarium.
