Budget will pave way for stronger workforce: Modi-OxBig News Network

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a post-Budget webinar on employment via video conferencing on Wednesday (March 5, 2025).
| Photo Credit: PIB via PTI

This year’s Union Budget will pave the way for a stronger workforce and a growing economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Wednesday (March 5, 2025), while addressing a post-budget webinar on boosting job creation.

Mr. Modi said the vision of investment in people stood on three pillars – education, skill and healthcare. The country’s education system was going through a huge transformation after several decades. “Big steps like the National Education Policy (NEP), expansion of IITs, integration of technology in the education system, use of the full potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), digitisation of textbooks, work of providing learning materials in 22 Indian languages, and many such efforts are going on in mission mode. Due to these, today India’s education system is matching the needs and parameters of the 21st century world,” the Prime Minister said.

Industry-ready youth

He said the Centre had provided skill training to more than three crore youth since 2014. “We have announced plans to upgrade 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and create five centres of excellence. Our aim is that the training should be such that they can meet the needs of our industry,” he said.

On announcing 10,000 additional medical seats in the budget, he said the Centre had plans to add 75,000 medical seats in the next five years.

Health tourism

On tourism, Mr. Modi said that apart from the hotel industry and transport sector, there were new opportunities for other sectors as well. “Our health sector stakeholders should invest in promoting health tourism, grab this opportunity. We should also use the full potential of yoga and wellness tourism. We also have a lot of scope in education tourism,” he said.

On AI, he said the sector could aid in the economy’s growth by several lakh crores of rupees. “Therefore, we have to move fast in this direction. In this budget, ₹500 crore have been allocated for AI-driven education and research. India will also establish the National Large Language Model to develop the capabilities of AI,” he said and urged the private sector to be one step ahead of the world.

“The Government had taken several steps in this budget to promote start-ups,” Mr Modi said, adding that a corpus fund of ₹1 lakh crore had been announced to promote research and innovation. “This will increase investment in emerging sectors. A provision of 10,000 research fellowships has been made in the IITs and the IISc. This will promote research and provide opportunities to talented youth,” he said.

Mr. Modi said more than one crore manuscripts would be converted into digital form under the Gyan Bharatam mission. “A national digital repository will be created so that scholars and researchers from all over the world can know about India’s historical and traditional knowledge and wisdom,” he said.