Valliappa said: "Reports suggest that India has just crossed China in terms of total population and is now the most populous nation. To reap the demographic dividend, education and skilling are of utmost importance, and I hope the allocation for both in the Union budget are doubled to create India as the Knowledge epicentre of the world."

"The industry expects the Finance Minister to present a road map for doubling allocation for education over the next three years by re-aligning a host of grants, subsidies and other financial sops," he said.

He said the skilling ecosystem needs a massive revamp. The fund allocation should be routed through the employer as is being done in the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme by BOAT thereby ensuring that there is job creation and not just skilling on paper," he added.