TN Budget 2025: Anna university to get Rs 500 cr; bid to improve national, global rankings
Tabling the Budget, Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu announced a series of welfare measures including increasing the block grant to the State universities to Rs 700 crore besides allocating Rs 500 crore for Anna University to carry out various initiatives.
CHENNAI: The State government on Friday allocated Rs 8,494 crore for the Higher Education Department in the 2025-2026 budget, a marginal increase from the previous year's figure of Rs 8,212 crore.
Tabling the Budget, Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu announced a series of welfare measures including increasing the block grant to the State universities to Rs 700 crore besides allocating Rs 500 crore for Anna University to carry out various initiatives.
The minister said a roadmap will be drawn up to make Anna University one of the top ten institutions in the country and one of the top 150 in the global QS rankings by the next five years.
"Smart classrooms, state-of-the-art technology labs, new research and development centres, start-up parks, and virtual labs will be established with the support of leading technology companies under the initiative,” he said. Leading technical experts and foreign professors will be engaged in special short-term research programmes of up to three months to enhance learning and teaching experience, the Finance Minister said.
The minister said the block grant for State-run universities will be enhanced to Rs 700 crore to mitigate fiscal constraints. From the upcoming academic year, Thangam Thennarasu said an additional 15,000 seats will be introduced for the first and second shifts in the most sought-after courses in government Arts and Science Colleges.
Rs 100 crore grand 'Chennai Science Centre' will be developed with world-class facilities
10 new Arts and Science colleges will be established in as many districts
Rs 550 crore has been allocated for the government school students coming under the 7.5% reservation quota
Rs 300 crore allocated for improving infrastructure facilities for the colleges affiliated to Anna University
Rs 25 crore has been allocated towards setting up of the Industrial Research and Innovation Fund, which will facilitate the industry-academia partnership
New degree courses in emerging fields such as AI, cyber security, robotics and electric vehicle technology in government engineering colleges
