Delhi Budget 2025: CM Shri schools, language labs, free laptops, startup support for students

NEW DELHI: In a major push for education and entrepreneurship, Delhi Chief Minister and Finance Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday announced a slew of initiatives, including CM Shri schools, language laboratories, modern computer labs, and startup support centres. The government has allocated Rs 100 crore to set up new CM Shri schools and Rs 500 crore for an education hub in Narela, aiming to strengthen Delhi's education infrastructure.

While presenting Delhi's annual budget of FY26, Gupta highlighted the government's commitment to digital learning by announcing free laptops for 1,200 Class 10 students, and set aside Rs 7.5 crore for the initiative. For the development of multilingual skills, 100 new language labs named after Dr A P J Abdul Kalam will be established, offering courses in French, German, English, Spanish, and other languages. The project has been allocated Rs 21 crore. The chief minister also introduced a new scheme, 'New Era of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Vision', designed to instill business mindset in students, and allocated Rs 20 crore to support this initiative.

Additionally, several startup support centres will be set up across Delhi to help young entrepreneurs with financial assistance and guidance. Recognising the need for modern infrastructure, Gupta announced the establishment of 175 new computer labs and smart classrooms, with an investment of Rs 50 crore. "In many of Delhi's existing schools, computer systems are outdated, and this initiative aims to upgrade facilities for students," she said.

The budget also emphasised on technical education, with a fund of Rs 230 crore for institutions such as Delhi Skill Entrepreneurship University, Rs 57 crore for Netaji Subhas University of Technology, Rs 42 crore for Delhi Technological University, and Rs 68 crore for Industrial Training Institutes. "Rs 886 crore has been allocated for training and technical education programmes," the CM announced.

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Competitive exam preparation, ITI PUSA campus

The Delhi government is also going to launch Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Vidya Shakti Mission. Under this initiative, professional guidance will be provided to students preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), Chartered Accountant (CA) and Common University Entrance Test (CUET) examinations. This scheme has been designed in line with Article 4.43 of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. A budget amount of Rs 21 crore has been kept for this scheme in the financial year 2025-26.

Moreover, 'Rashtraneeti' is being launched under this vision, for which a special budget allocation of Rs 1.5 crore is being allotted. This programme will provide practical knowledge of governance, democracy, active citizenship and policymaking to students from KG to Class 12. It will also include youth parliament, direct interaction with ministers and administrative officials, digital governance, virtual tour of rural and remote areas of India and community engagement, ensuring that students become responsible, aware and active citizens. The government is starting 'Science of Living’ for students up to Class 12 and a budget of Rs 1.5 crore has been kept for this scheme in the financial year 2025-26.

Further, the Delhi government has proposed Rs 20.65 crore for the redevelopment of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) PUSA campus and construction of additional building for ITI Shahdara.