Townships, hostels for girls in all districts

Five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistic corridors, girls' hostel in every district, setting up of content creator labs in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges and reduction of the tax collection at source (TCS) rate to 2 per cent for education are among the proposals announced in the Union Budget for the education sector.

The sector has got an allocation of over Rs 1.39 lakh crore, including Rs 55,727 crore for higher education.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will support states in creating five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistic corridors.

“These planned academic zones will host multiple universities, colleges and research institutions, skill centers and residential complexes,” she said in her budget speech.

Sitharaman announced the setting up of one girls’ hostel in every district of the country. There are over 700 districts in the country.

“In the Higher Education STEM institutions, prolonged hours of study and laboratory work pose some challenges for girl students. The Union Budget proposes to establish 1 girls’ hostel in every district through VGF or capital support,” she said.