Gujarat budget puts ₹63,184 crore into education, from smart classrooms to research parks

The Gujarat government’s 2026-27 budget sets aside ₹63,184 crore for the education department. The money runs from primary-school nutrition to university research parks; these are the lines that matter most to students and parents.

Schools

• Mission Schools of Excellence: ₹3,055 crore for classroom infrastructure
• Namo Lakshmi Yojana: ₹1,250 crore for girls in Classes 9 to 12
• Namo Saraswati Vigyan Sadhana Yojana: ₹250 crore for about 2.5 lakh science-stream students
• Right to Education seats in private schools: ₹827 crore
• Gyanshakti residential schools: ₹223 crore; PM Shri schools: ₹114 crore across 926 schools
• Bus pass concessions: ₹223 crore for around 13 lakh students; free primary textbooks: ₹119 crore for about 52 lakh students
• Nutrition: ₹598 crore for the Mukhyamantri Paushtik Alpahar Yojana and ₹552 crore for PM Poshan through 74 centralised kitchens

Colleges and universities

• Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana: ₹400 crore for roughly 90,000 students
• 16 new government colleges: ₹126 crore
• L.D. College of Engineering: ₹51 crore each for a research park and new hostels
• Student Start-up Initiative 2.0: ₹45 crore; internship incentives: ₹43 crore for about 2.12 lakh students
• NCC Leadership Academy, Rajkot: ₹31 crore

The Chief Minister’s Gyan Sadhana merit scholarship also gets ₹100 crore, supporting close to a lakh students with ₹20,000 a year in Classes 9 and 10 and ₹25,000 a year in Classes 11 and 12.

Reported by DeshGujarat on 18 February 2026.