Union Budget 2023-24: Centres of AI in educational institutions, labs in engineering institutions to develop 5G-driven applications

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman started presenting the Union Budget 2023-24 by stating that this is the first budget in Amrit Kaal. While elaborating on the priorities of the budget, the minister introduced new efforts which will be taken.

The minister announced that centres of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be set up in top educational institutions. Moreover, a total of 100 labs will be set up in engineering institutions with various authorities, regulators, banks and other businesses for developing applications using 5G services.
She added that these labs, among others, will consist of applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems and healthcare applications etc.

The Union Budget for 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024) would be the first normal budget after the COVID-19 shock and amid global geopolitical developments. To recall in 2022-23, the budget allocation towards the education sector was only 2.6% of the total funding.

Ahead of the session, education experts had hoped that the sector will see more allocation compared to the last few years owing to changes imposed on learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic and new technological innovations.