BENGALURU: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement in the Union Budget 2026–27 on Sunday about the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education is not the Central government’s first effort to integrate emerging technologies into the sector. In the Budget 2025–26, the Centre allocated Rs 500 crore for the setting up of a Centre of Excellence for the purpose.
The government wants the integration of AI and other emerging technologies into the curricula, supported by large-scale rollout of e-content labs. The Union government has been working on promoting AI across various sectors in the past five years.
Even as the government allocated Rs 100 crore for AI in the education sector, the 2023 Budget allocated funds for the setting up three Centre of Excellence in AI for agriculture, healthcare and sustainable cities. Ambrish Sinha, the CEO of edtech firm UNext Learning, said.
“The Union Budget recognises talent readiness as a key component of economic growth, reflecting a logical approach to education and skill development. The ongoing emphasis on digital learning, AI-led projects and programmes around employment, is optimistic for the education and skilling ecosystem.
We hope this improves the connection between learning outputs and actual industry needs. The Education-to-Employment and Enterprise Committee plan with special support for professional training programmes and AI development in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities signifies a move towards skill-based education and training.” Shweta Sastri, the MD of Canadian International High School, said,
“The planned integration of AI and emerging technologies into curricula will meaningfully enhance the classroom learning and equip students with critical digital and problem-solving skills from an early stage. The creation of innovation-driven ecosystems, including AI missions and research-led learning environments, will further nurture curiosity, creativity and scientific expertise among students.”
In addition to imbibing AI into education, the budget focused on the orange economy. As per the budget, India’s animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) sector is a growing industry, projected to require 20 lakh professionals by 2030.
Hence, the Centre has proposed to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVGC content creator labs in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges. Arena Animation director Srinivas Sribhakta said, “Establishing AVGC content creator labs in 15,000 schools is a massive project. It is essential to catch the talents young and train them. That is where content creator labs across India, especially those in Bengaluru, will play a vital role.”