Increase in Budget outlays for IITs, NITs, IIITs in last 5 years
IITs are set to receive a funding of INR 9,661.50 crore, INR 1,166.5 crore more than last year while INR 4,820.60 crore and INR 560 crore have been set aside for NITs and IIITs, respectively.
Premier technical institutions received a steady share of the central government’s education budget in 2023. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an outlay of INR 9,661.50 crore for 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), an increase of INR 1,166.5 crore over the 2022-23 budget estimates.
The National Institutes of Technology (NITs),which are 31 in number, and the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) Shibpur, and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) also saw an increase in the funds allocated to them. A sum of INR 4,820.60 crore has been set aside for the NITs and IIEST, an increase of Rs 456.6 crore, while the IIITs have been allocated INR 560 crore, an increase of INR 17.48 crore in the union Budget 2023-24.
The government has been attempting to transform engineering education by introducing courses in emerging sector and make the approach multidisciplinary, not only in IITs, NITs and IISERs, etc, but in engineering institutions across the country. As many as 100 labs in engineering institutions on 5G technology related applications will set up to provide a fillip to employment, start-ups, businesses and promote innovation and entrepreneurship.
Recognising the pioneer role of the IITs in research excellence in the country, the Finance Minister announced a research and development grant for indigenous production of Lab Grown Diamond (LGD) seeds. IIT Madras has been selected for the project. The institute will be provided a grant of INR 242 crore over a period of five years. The research will be focused on driving indigenisation of the LGD manufacturing process. This will ensure an industry led research and innovation effort, with direct impact on exports, employment generation and India’s share in the world trade in this sector.
Year-wise total funding to IITs, IIITs and NITs
The following chart shows the increase in allocations to the IITs, NITs and IIITs each year starting from the 2019-20 financial year.
| Name of the Institution |
2019-20 (in Rs Cr) |
2020-21 (in Rs Cr) |
2021-22 (in Rs Cr) |
2022-23 (in Rs Cr) |
2022-23 (in Rs Cr) |
| IITs |
6,409.95 |
7332.00 |
7686.02 |
8,495 |
9,661.50 |
| IIITs |
374.76 |
393.35 |
393.35 |
542.52 |
560 |
| NITs/IIEST |
3787.05 |
3885.00 |
3935.00 |
4364.00 |
4820.60 |
The Union budget for 2023–24 also included a grant of INR 300 crore for IIT Hyderabad. The funding was provided for the externally aided project (EAP). The institution received INR 18 crore and INR 10 crore correspondingly in funding for SC and ST welfare for EAP. An allocation of INR 300 crore was made for IIT Hyderabad for the 2022-23 financial year. For 2021-22, the Budget estimates for the IIT Hyderabad were INR 150 crore.
Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have been allocated INR 1,462 crore and INR 815.40 crore, respectively, in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The two institutes were allocated INR 1379.53 crore (IISERs) and INR 727.25 crore (IISc) during the previous fiscal year. Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) have been allocated INR 175 crore, which is less than the previous year. In the 2022 Budget, SPAs were allocated a total of INR 154.90 crore.
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