Like the previous two years this year’s Union Budget too is being presented in paper less format by Hon. Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman. Team Campusutra connects with some of the top leadership of management institutes to get their views.

Interestingly, in 2021, the Government had reduced funds for the education sector by 6% from the previous year to a figure of ₹ 93,223 crores. Last year the FM also earmarked ₹ 1.04 lakh crores which was more than 11.50 % from the previous year’s allocation. This was a positive development that received appreciation though the increase was mostly due to the increased allocation to the school education sector and not in higher education. The Union Budget 2023 started with some positive news for India’s salaried class as The FM in her speech announced a rebate in income tax limit to ₹ 7 lakh in new tax regime.

Let’s hear from the experts on what the Budget 2023 has to offer to Higher Education.

Prof. Rajeev Roy, Dean Academics, Professor Entrepreneurship - XLRI Delhi

The last budget was generous to education and the trend needs to continue.

The new education policy NEP is ambitious and it needs meaningful investments in tech infrastructure for education. The focus should be on quantum leaps for grassroots primary education.

Dr. Lakshmi Kumar, Dean IFMR GSB, Krea University

The budget seems to be a very growth oriented one! The reason I say that is the focus areas have been identified and big investments for the same has been initiated. Investing in infrastructure has always been a budget’s main aim but this year it has increased by 33% and gone up to a double digit figure, this is indeed commendable given the fact that infrastructure is still very much lacking in our country.
Most importantly the reduction in tax rates or the marginal tax rates is a boon to the middle class. It will bring about greater consumer spending because it brings more money to people’s hands. Very importantly the richest who are taxed one of the highest in this world at 42% has seen reduction in their tax rate. In some sense, there has been a lot of rationalisation in tax because as we know higher tax rates means non compliance and a lot of black money. However in my opinion taxes could have been cut further as the total income tax revenue is very low compared to the revenue from other taxes. We do need tax reforms for better compliance. Having said this, the push towards agriculture start ups, digitisation and financial sector reforms will push us into modern India.

Dr Sriharsha Reddy - Director, IMT Hyderabad.

Union Budget 2023 laid emphasis on Digital Transformation and Sustainability.
Green Hydrogen mission, green credit program, PM PRANAM initiatives are laudable. National digital library, National Data Governance, setting up AI centres of excellence are positive steps towards digital transformation in India. PM Kaushal Yojana 4.0, setting up of thirty Skill India centres and unified digital Skill India platform, apprentice program for 47 lacs beneficiaries are positive aspects for the education sector. Nevertheless, budget allocation of ₹ 1,12,000 crores may not be sufficient to further the objectives of National Education Policy 2020. Current allocation is a marginal increase of Rs 8000 crores from last year allocation of ₹ 1,04,000 crores.

Sangeeta Shah Bhardwaj - Professor Acting Director, MDI Gurgaon

The Union Budget 2023 has given boost to the digital ecosystem that would support teaching and research. Important initiatives include centers of AI in top educations institutes, labs in engg institutes for developing applications using 5G services, national digital library for supporting students across geographies, language and genres and emphasis on workforce that is future ready through PMKVY 4.0 which will cover courses related to Industry 4.0.

Fr. C. Joe Arun, SJ - Director & Professor of LIBA, Chennai

In the backdrop of slowing down of economies in the world, Union Budget 23-24 is positive and ambitious. Positive because it sees the forthcoming financial year as a growth year. Ambitious because it aims to achieve 6.8 GDP. As the budget aims to stimulate growth, a huge rise has been proposed in capital expenditure. High outlays to road, airport and railways are intended to accelerate growth. What is seen positive is the new tax regime that benefits the middle classes; some see this as a way to satisfy the vote banks for the parliamentary elections in 2024. It also has sent strong signals to foreign and global business communities. In sum, the budget has a strategic plan for growth through capital expenditure and supportive business environment.

Prof. Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay, Director at Jagdish Sheth School of Management (JAGSoM) and Vice Chancellor at Vijaybhoomi University

Here is my take on what the budget could have done:

1. Higher Education:

Indian HEIs/Universities have very limited or almost negligible endowment corpus compared to their global peers ( around 80 US universities have an endowment base of USD 1 billion plus)..

a) The government could have allowed 200 percent income tax deduction for contribution towards payment of tuition and hostel fees by way of adopting a student in HEIs ( example, if an individual adopts a student in an HEI and pays the tuition and hostel fees, say INR 1 Lac, the individual could be allowed to claim a deduction on income to the tune of INR 2 lacs)..
This would have made higher education affordable for students from the economically weaker section.. Also, this would have led to augmentation of the government’s relatively low (2.9% ) allocation in education..
Also, it would have allowed self financed HEIs, to make education more inclusive..
b) The government could have mandated that a portion of the required CSR spend of corporates to be donated as an endowment to such HEIs, where the promoters and their relatives of such corporate entities have no stake as trustees or members of the societ)…That would have started the process of creating an endowment base for the HEIs ..It is important to infuse funds in HEIs at a time when foreign HEIs are being allowed to operate out of India

2. School Education

Just like the government has prioritised infrastructure ( particularly highways, railways, port and airports), the construction of schools should be treated as part of the infrastructure sector, with a separate mechanism for funding (National School Infrastructure Authority of India, like NHAI) to make it a priority including ability to raise funds from the market..

Dr. Prof. Ravi Kr. Jain, Educationist | Institution Builder

As the Budget Theme goes, “Balanced Growth and sustainability : Samyak Samriddhi”,
this Budget 2023 ideally, shall broaden room for necessary provisions aligned with the grand vision presented in the last couple of budgets…..esp ‘Gatishakti’…..more specifically Infra (Road, Rail, Air and Water) Healthcare, Agriculture, Technology and Education.
With almost all macro parameters being in a more or less comfort zone we can expect a bit of bold decisions for promoting investment and more incentives to strengthen the start-up ecosystem. Some incremental benefits (No bonanzas) may be expected for salaried class majority (>80%) of them being fairly comfortable on tax breaks. Special focus on further increasing Tax compliances ease and efficacy being the theme for it has been done, which is clearly a positive step.