The Union Budget 2026–27 has positioned education as a critical driver of India’s economic and workforce transformation, with a strong focus on employability, artificial intelligence (AI) integration and industry-aligned skills, industry leaders said. The budget’s emphasis on directly linking education with jobs, entrepreneurship and services-led growth reflects a clear understanding of how careers and talent requirements are evolving. Commenting on the budget, Arjun Nair, Co-founder of Great Learning, said the push to embed AI across learning systems, expand higher education capacity around industrial corridors, and promote modular, industry-designed programmes would significantly strengthen India’s talent pipeline. He noted that repositioning education as a core economic engine was a decisive step toward preparing learners for future-ready roles.
For the edtech sector, the budget opens opportunities to move beyond content delivery and play a more outcome-driven role. Increased emphasis on AI, deeper industry partnerships and closer collaboration with academic institutions are expected to help edtech firms deliver job-ready learning at scale.
In Kolkata, the budget’s focus on skills, AI-led education and industry linkage is likely to benefit eastern India’s growing services and technology ecosystem. With Kolkata emerging as a talent hub for IT, analytics and digital services, edtech companies and institutions in the region are expected to see rising demand for modular, industry-aligned programmes that improve employability and support local workforce needs.