Union Budget 2026: No New IIM or Central University for Telangana

Hyderabad: While there has been an overall rise in the education spending in the Union Budget 2026, Telangana did not figure in announcements on new marquee public institution. No Indian Institute of Management or Central University has been sanctioned for the state as urged earlier.

“Higher education is getting totally privatised. We need more investment in public universities for the disadvantaged to access education. This is fundamental right after all,” said Shanta Sinha, child rights activist and former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

The finance minister’s proposals leaned on five university townships near industrial and logistics corridors, one girls’ hostel in every district, and a handful of specialised institutes elsewhere in the country. Education outlay rose to about ₹1.39 lakh crore, and allocations for state universities and research support continued, but there was no location-specific decision that addressed Telangana’s long-pending demand for a premier public institution.

Dr K. Ravikant Rao, Principal of DIET Hyderabad and a former education department official, said the omission revived concerns around access at a time of rising demand. The state records one of the highest higher-education participation rates in the country, he said, which points to sustained pressure for quality public seats. “The Union Budget has made no provision for a new Indian Institute of Management or a Central University in Telangana, reviving concerns over the State’s access to marquee public higher-education institutions,” he said.

The absence of centrally funded campuses leave students with limited options which pushes them to leave the state for public universities elsewhere, while others turn to private colleges within Telangana. Dr Rao warned that this displacement will tighten the private market, especially in professional and management courses where demand already exceeds supply, and may push fees further out of reach for middle-class families.

Shanta Sinha said the consequences went beyond choice. “Look at universities. Teachers are on contract, there is no job security, and recruitment is not happening,” she said, adding that students from Dalit, Adivasi and backward class communities now seek higher education in larger numbers, but rising private fees shut doors. “They cannot afford the fees that private universities charge,” she said. “Those who are marginalised and have aspirations will never be able to access higher education.”

Telangana had pressed its case before the Budget. The state’s pitch argued that a national institution would expand affordable public capacity alongside private growth, however, that argument found no place in the final announcements.