The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the country’s apex body overseeing technical education, has seen its funding slashed by more than half in just two years — even as the Centre rolls out high-profile schemes and institutions under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Minister of State for Education Dr. Sukanta Majumdar told the Rajya Sabha on August 20 that the grant-in-aid to AICTE plummeted from ₹420 crore in 2022-23 to just ₹137.5 crore in 2024-25 — a steep 61% decline. The cuts have also hit student scholarships, long considered the backbone of AICTE’s quality improvement efforts. Expenditure on scholarships shrank from ₹387.13 crore in 2021-22 to ₹284.32 crore in 2023-24, with only a partial recovery to ₹309.47 crore this year, still trailing earlier levels.

The disclosure came in response to a question by AIADMK MP Dr. M Thambidurai, sparking concerns over shrinking direct support for students and technical colleges, even as the government expands its reformist agenda. Among the flagship programmes announced are the ₹50,000-crore Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to drive innovation, and the ₹6,000-crore One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) scheme to provide over 6,300 institutions access to global journals between 2025 and 2027.

While allocations for Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence — including ₹990 crore for health, sustainable cities, and agriculture, and ₹500 crore for AI in education — underscore the government’s focus on cutting-edge research, the reduction in AICTE’s operational funding raises questions about the balance between institution-building and on-ground student support.

The government highlighted achievements since 2014, including the establishment of 16 IIITs, 8 IIMs, 8 Central Universities, 7 IITs, 2 IISERs, and 1 NIT, along with the elevation of 12 universities to Institutes of Eminence. A new MERITE scheme worth ₹4,200 crore will also be rolled out across 275 institutions to improve governance and equity in technical education between 2025-26 and 2029-30.

Yet, education experts warn that the steep decline in AICTE grants and scholarships could undermine the very student ecosystem these ambitious schemes are meant to strengthen.