India, Feb. 2 -- The central government will set up a centre for excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for education with an outlay of Rs.500 crore, Union finance minister Niramala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech on Saturday, outlining a major push for future technologies.

Sitharaman also announced a Rs.20,000 crore allocation encourage private sector-driven research, development and innovation, a portion of which may be used to set up a "Deep Tech Fund of Funds" to encourage startups.

The CoE for AI in education is the fourth such centre to be announced. In 2023, Sitharaman announced a CoE in AI for agriculture, health, and sustainable cities. In a media interaction after the budget speech, IT minister Ashwini Vais...