Govt’s push to AI in Budget 2026 to improve productivity in sectors, says FM Sitharaman

FM Nirmala Sitharaman

• Govt aims to boost AI for productivity, skilled job creation, not job loss
• AI to be integrated in sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and education
• AI training and curriculum to be expanded in schools, colleges, and ITIs

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The government’s interest in providing a push to Artificial Intelligence (AI) is to improve productivity in various sectors while creating skilled jobs rather than displacing labour, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her first post-budget interview with Network18 Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

Sitharaman highlighted that AI is also sought after from the point of view of the orange economy and noted that small scale companies and MSMEs in some sectors will benefit with AI.

“AI now has become part of every office. In income tax and in GST, using artificial intelligence, deep tech, we are able to detect and see the money trail, where we need to chase. If that is the case with income tax, that's the case also with rural technologies, with agriculture, surprisingly, even in animal husbandry, crop intensity, and then you're able to predict what will be the outcome and so on,” Sitharaman said.

The minister said that using AI will not displace labour but will create more job opportunities for people who are trained and skilled in AI.

“..And that is why in this budget, you see that we are lifting up ways in which we are going to bring in technology into schools, into colleges, so that they will be able to come out and be an entrepreneur, on a set of business. We are doing that as a pilot now in three states at the ITI district level,” the minister said.

Sitharaman said that the government is making sure that master trainers are sent to all the districts and students are brought in where they can have AI training and therefore, be ready for the market.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her 9th Budget, has provided fresh impetus to India’s ambition of becoming a global artificial intelligence hub, announcing several measures to boost the country's tech infrastructure and talent pool.

Sitharaman said the government is seeking to meet the “aspirations of youthful India” with these new measures.

The technology is also being placed at the heart of efforts to adopt emerging innovations through initiatives such as the AI Mission and the National Quantum Mission.

The finance minister highlighted the use of AI in studying how new technologies reshape employment. Tools powered by artificial intelligence will be used to analyse changing job roles, evolving skill requirements, and labour market trends.

Several sector-specific applications were outlined. In agriculture, AI will be integrated with AgriStack portals and packages developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to support better farm practices.

In healthcare and accessibility, research and development will focus on incorporating AI into assistive devices for persons with disabilities, including products manufactured by Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO).

Education also features prominently. AI modules are to be embedded directly into the national curriculum from the school level onwards, and teacher training programmes will include components on artificial intelligence.

For professionals, targeted upskilling and reskilling initiatives will be introduced for engineers and technology workers.