Govt Cuts AICTE Budget by 61% for Last Two Years, Even Students Scholarships: Education Minister In Rajya Sabha

Centre grant to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had reduced considerably over the last two years even as the Centre had plans to announce some expensive new higher education schemes. Union Minister of State for Education Dr Sukanta Majumdar informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that AICTE has been granted Rs 420 crore as grant-in-aid for 2022-23 and had plummeted to an all-time low of Rs 137.5 crore for 2024-25 – a drop of almost 61 per cent in just two years.

Scholarship to students, another philanthropic work by AICTE's, has not been left behind either.  there was a modest pick-up to Rs 309.47 crore in FY 2024-25, but the disbursement is less compared to earlier years. The expenditure on scholarship declined from Rs 387.13 crore in FY 2021-22 to Rs 284.32 crore in FY 2023-24, an almost 18 per cent decline last year. 

The numbers, made public in the context of a list of replies to a question for written answer raised by MP Dr. M. Thambidurai, come at a time when the government is fast-tracking education transformation in all directions in the spirit of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. They are the Rs 50,000 crore Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) for research assistance and innovation support, and One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) scheme with pegged outlay of Rs 6,000 crore to provide access to journals for over 6,300 institutions during 2025-2027.

Minister also speaks about 'World Class Institutions scheme' which was introduced in 2017 and has notified up to now 12 universities as Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) which includes Manipal Academy of Higher Education, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IISc Bengaluru, Banaras Hindu University, University of Delhi and University of Hyderabad from the government and private sector institutions like BITS Pilani, O.P. Jindal Global University and Shiv Nadar University. The government institutions have till now received a total amount of nearly Rs 6,200 crore under this scheme.

There will be a new Rs 4,200-crore MERITE model which will be introduced in 2025-26 and completed by 2029-30 in 275 technology institutions that comprise 175 engineering colleges and 100 polytechnics for enhancing the governance, quality, and equity of technical education.

Government has approved Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in agriculture, green cities, and health for Rs 990 crore till 2027-28. Budget 2025-26 also considered floating a plan of Rs 500 crore AI center for education.

While scheme launch and institution expansion are indicators of issue worldwide, AICTE grant reductions and scholarship cuts can indirectly damage student-level assistance as well as national technical college enrollment.