Union Budget 2026-2027 signals a radical shift in higher education, with the proposal to set up five university townships, which aim to merge classrooms, companies, and startups into a single ecosystem.
These townships would work as places where education does not exist in isolation but evolves in constant conversation with industry.
Tanya Singh, Dean of Academics at Noida International University, sees this as a fundamental transformation in how India approaches higher education. She said university townships would move the education system “beyond the traditional ‘Classrooms and Examination-based’ model to an integrated ecosystem of ‘Living, Learning, and Working’.”
“We are not talking about isolated places called universities,” she explains. “We are talking about integrated places where education, industry, and life converge. This is not about education and degrees; it is about capabilities. Students are not only learning concepts; they are entering an ecosystem where concepts are executed.”
In township-based ecosystems, learning is expected to be applied and continuously tested against real-world demands.
What Is Special About The Indian University Township Model?
University townships are poised to reshape urban development. Colleges and universities will develop curricula and learning centres to provide hands-on education to become industry-ready.
These hubs will host research centres, housing, and universities within a defined area. Their location near industrial corridors makes them catalysts for regional growth. Purpose-built student accommodation is expected to emerge as a major asset class, catering to students seeking secure, well-connected living spaces.
What University Townships Plan To Do?
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in Parliament on Sunday that the government will develop five university townships across different regions of the country.
Sitharaman said these townships will house skill centres aimed at combining academic learning with hands-on training, ensuring students gain practical, job-oriented experience alongside formal education.
The Finance Minister also announced the establishment of a new National Institute of Design (NID) in eastern India, with the goal of strengthening design education and fostering creativity and innovation in the region.
Delhi’s Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, in an interview, said, “Delhi’s students will benefit from it. We want to turn Narela into an education hub and will try to get it included in the initiative under which five university townships will be established near industry and logistics corridors.”
University Townships Across India
While announcing the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised to establish five University Townships across India. This also marks a departure from earlier strategies that focused on setting up new institutes, expanding intake, or creating education parks to serve India’s large youth population.
The University Township model attempts to address this disconnect by creating a single ecosystem. Instead of students studying in one place, interning elsewhere and later migrating to major job hubs, the township caters to learning, working, and living in one geography.
Employability At The Core
While improving academic quality remains important, employability has emerged as the central focus of the University Township initiative. India’s demographic dividend depends not just on the number of graduates produced each year, but on how many of them are job-ready.
Singh argues that employability cannot be treated as an afterthought managed by placement cells. “Improved learning outcomes and employability are deeply connected,” she says.
“Employability is not created through placement cells. It is created in classrooms that are realistic rather than hypothetical. In university townships, learning becomes relevant rather than abstract.”
This relevance comes from constant exposure to industry problems, workflows, and tools. When students encounter real constraints, deadlines, budgets, and client expectations, they develop problem-solving skills that cannot be taught through textbooks alone.
Addressing The Industry Skilling Gap
When it comes to industry participation in skilling, it has always been limited. Several factors contribute to this hesitation, such as outdated academic syllabi, the cost of training, high attrition rates among young employees, and the belief that workforce preparation is primarily academia’s responsibility.
As a result, many companies prefer to hire graduates and retrain them internally rather than invest early in student development. Some of the companies include Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Accenture, and IBM India.
Every year, India produces over 1 crore fresh student graduates in India and
only 54.8% of Indian graduates are considered employable, and other estimates place this figure even lower, according to the India Skills Report 2025. Recent data from CMIE shows that 44.5% of Indians aged 20–24 are unemployed, despite many of them holding graduate or even postgraduate degrees.
High-growth sectors such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud computing, and cybersecurity are actively seeking skilled professionals. These fields report employability rates of over 46 per cent, often offering salaries four to five times higher than average.
The newly introduced University townships challenge this mindset.
Organisations located within or near these townships are expected to collaborate with universities not only on internships, but also on curriculum design, faculty training, and applied research.
Teaching Next Door To The Factory Floor
According to this project, daily proximity to factories and startups has the potential to radically transform pedagogy. Dr Singh believes this will redefine the role of educators themselves.
“We learn through live projects, deadlines, and consequences—not hypothetical situations,” she notes. “Professors are no longer just content providers. They become mentors, problem-solvers, and research partners.”
When industry operates next door, theory is validated or challenged by practice. Faculty members can align teaching with current technologies, while students gain exposure to real-time problem statements. Over time, this dynamic can also reshape academic research, shifting it from publication-driven output to industry-relevant innovation.
For academia, this means investing in faculty upskilling, short-term industry immersion programmes, and collaborative research models. Access to modern laboratories, software systems, and industrial data will be crucial to ensuring that teaching remains current and credible.
Startups Inside The University
Unlike independent working spaces, startups are often constrained by resources. As they stand to gain significantly from being embedded within university townships, these startups also offer access to a continuous stream of talent, academic expertise and research infrastructure.
“Startups benefit from direct access to talent, research, and early-stage innovation under one roof,” Singh explains. “Universities provide access that no co-working facility can offer. They are constant sources of youth, ideas, and research-driven thinking.”
IIT Hyderabad (iTIC) and IIT Delhi (FITT) are top examples, providing mentoring, funding, and infrastructure. IIM Bangalore is home to NSRCEL (Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning), one of India’s most active incubators supporting over 800 startups across industries.
Alumni from IIM Bangalore have founded Flipkart (Sachin and Binny Bansal), Cure. Fit, and Zivame, among others. Some of the current startups in FIIT include Compiler AI, Dweepi Innovations Private Limited, Mobisec Technologies Private Limited, Tadpole Projects Private Limited, Calvem Energy Private Limited, Dash Dynamic and more.
This proximity also allows students to prototype faster, collaborate with faculty on problem-solving, and build teams organically from the student community.
Girls Hostels and Inclusive Growth
Another important announcement in the budget is the plan to build one girls’ hostel in every district. This move strengthens the township’s vision by addressing a critical barrier to women’s education: safe accommodation.
According to the survey published by pib.gov.in in February 2023, there are 494 functional Working Women Hostels (Sakhi Niwas) supported by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India.
With over 700 districts in India, the initiative represents a massive investment in social infrastructure and signals the government’s commitment to inclusive growth. This also reinforces the idea that educational ecosystems must be safe, accessible, and supportive for all learners.
The Plan To Make Graduates Job-Ready
While the model offers a compelling vision, its success depends on coordinated execution. Industry must move beyond transactional engagement, academia must modernise curricula and faculty roles, and students must approach internships and training with long-term intent rather than short-term gains.
