New Delhi, Feb. 1: Union Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, February 1, tabled the Union Budget 2025-26 in Lok Sabha, with a focus on technologies such as artificial intelligence and broadband connectivity. She also announced key projects such as the National Nuclear Energy Mission and the National Geospatial Mission, along with funding initiatives for startups in the country.

Here is a round-up of budget announcements related to AI, deep technology, electronics goods and battery manufacturing, startups, and more.

According to the Indian Media, Sitharaman announced that the central government will establish a new Centre of Excellence for AI for education with an outlay of Rs 500 crore. In the Union Budget 2023-24, Sitharaman had announced three Centres of Excellence in AI for agriculture, health and sustainable cities.

The government will also support domestic manufacturing capacity, sectors will be identified with an objective criteria. There is a huge opportunity for industry 4.0 which needs high skills and talent, the finance minister said on Saturday.

The government will also set up five National Centres of Excellence for Skilling to equip youth with industry-relevant expertise.”The partnerships will cover curriculum design, training of trainers, a skills certification framework, and periodic reviews,” Sitharaman said.

Reacting to the announcement, Dr Jyotsana Singh, associate dean of  Computer Engineering, NMIMS Chandigarh, said, “AI-powered tools will enhance personalised learning, bridging gaps in accessibility and skill-building across disciplines. By embedding AI in education, we are not only enhancing learning outcomes but also preparing students to navigate an AI-driven economy with confidence and competence.”

As part of its energy transition efforts, the government is looking to generate at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047. In a step towards this goal, Sitharaman announced that the government will set up a research and development unit with a focus on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore.

“At least 5 indigenously developed SMRs will be operationalised by 2033,” she said. The government will be further amending the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act to foster an active partnership with the private sector.

The Indian government’s renewed focus on nuclear energy comes as tech giants are looking to harness this energy to fuel the vast data centres driving the AI revolution.

Big tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta are betting heavily on small modular reactors to power data centres and AI because they are cheaper, faster to build, and scalable when compared to traditional nuclear power plants.

The government has proposed to reduce, and in some cases exempt, the basic customs duty (BCD) rates levied on various electronics components. BCD is an indirect tax that is levied on imported goods and is usually calculated based on the assessment value of the product.

“In line with our ‘Make in India’ policy, and to rectify inverted duty structure, I propose to increase the BCD on Interactive Flat Panel Display (IFPD) from 10% to 20%” Sitharaman said.

The BCD on Open Cell and other components has been reduced to 5%. Open Cells are used for the manufacture of LCD and LED televisions.

In the Union Budget 2023-24, Sitharaman had reduced the parts of Open Cells from 5% to 2.5%. As per this year’s budget, the parts of Open Cells are proposed to be exempted from BCD.

The BCD on Carrier Grade ethernet switches are also proposed to be reduced from 20% to 10%, making it at par with BCD on Non-Carrier Grade ethernet switches and preventing classification disputes.

In a boost to domestic manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, the government has proposed to add 35 additional capital goods for EV battery manufacturing, and 28 additional capital goods for mobile phone battery manufacturing to the list of exempted capital goods.

The scrap of lithium-ion battery, along with the scrap of lead, zinc, cobalt, and 12 more critical minerals, has been fully exempted from BCD rates.

“This will help secure their availability for manufacturing in India and promote more jobs for our youth,” Sitharaman said.

The finance minister announced the expansion of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with an additional Rs 10,000 crore corpus.

“The Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) for startups have received commitments of more than Rs 91,000 crore. These are supported by the Fund of Funds set up with a Government contribution of Rs 10,000 crore. Now, a new Fund of Funds, with expanded scope and a fresh contribution of another Rs 10,000 crore will be set up,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech.

The period for incorporation of startups has been extended by five years. The government will also provide term loans up  to Rs 2 crore for first-time women entrepreneurs as well as entrepreneurs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) category over the next five years.

In an attempt to catalyse the next generation of startups, the government has said that it will explore setting up a deep tech fund of funds.

On the impact that these announcements will have on India’s deep tech ecosystem, Vishesh Rajaram, managing partner, Speciale Invest, said, “A visionary Deeptech Fund of Funds to fuel cutting-edge innovations, combined with 10,000 fellowships under the PM Research Fellowship Scheme, will ignite a new era of technological sovereignty.”

Deep tech is an investment category that covers various end-user technologies such as AI, robotics, blockchain, advanced material science, photonics and electronics, biotech, and quantum computing.

The government plans on initiating a National GeoSpatial Mission to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and data, according to Sitharaman. “Using PM Gati Shakti, this Mission will facilitate modernisation of land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects,” she said.

“We will set up a National Digital Repository of Indian knowledge systems for knowledge sharing,” the finance minister further said.

The government has also proposed to open up private sector access to relevant data and maps from the PM Gati Shakti portal. This will aid the private sector in project planning and further public private partnerships (PPP), according to Sitharaman.

Sitharaman announced that broadband connectivity will be provided to all government secondary schools and primary health centres in rural areas under the Bharatnet project powered by the Digital Bharat Nidhi fund.

A digital public infrastructure, ‘BharatTradeNet’ (BTN) for international trade will be set up as a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions. The BTN will complement the existing Unified Logistics Interface Platform, which allows industry players to access logistics-related datasets from various government systems.