Budget 2024 expectations: Physics Wallah’s Prateek Maheshwari seeks higher budget for education sector, GST cut

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the Interim Budget 2024 on February 1. In an interaction with Livemint, co-chair of India Edtech Consortium (IEC) and co-founder of Physics Wallah Prateek Maheshwari speaks about artificial intelligence (AI) integration in the edtech sector. Maheshwari also shared his expectations from the Interim Budget. Edited excerpts from the interview.

1. How has the Edtech industry fared in 2023, in your opinion?

Despite a few ups and downs in the industry in 2023, the edtech sector continued on an upward growth trajectory, offering students numerous learning outcomes and access to quality content. Additionally, with the advent of AI, its integration into education and the transformation of the learning paradigm will further propel the industry to greater heights, providing hope for a promising future.

Physics Wallah (PW) witnessed an impressive 182% growth in enrollment for paid courses and we expect this upward trajectory to persist in the current year and beyond.

2. How has the growth of PW been in 2023? Recently, PW has also expanded into new book launches. Could you share more details on the upcoming developments?

We expanded into 28 categories and established ourselves as the topmost player in other categories like UPSC, commerce, Gate, government one-day exam, and skills. 

Our online categories grew to 2.5x in terms of student headcount, while our offline student headcount grew to 5.5x touching 60,000 enrolments in FY23. In terms of expansion and acquisitions, it was a positive year for us. We entered the South Indian market by partnering with Xylem in Kerala.

We are introducing a new vertical for PW - children’s books specifically designed for ages 2 to 6. This will create an audience that is not only new to PW's ecosystem but can also provide a higher lifetime value.

3. What are your expansion plans? What is the outlook for PW in 2024?

We plan to expand our offline tech-enabled Vidyapeeth Centres from the current 64 to 100. In 2023, we successfully established 50 offline centers.  We plan to add 2-3 lakh paid learners and 30-40 lakh learners for upskilling in 2024.

Also, we are developing Alakh AI, an innovative AI study companion that transcends language barriers. This platform is designed to facilitate rapid doubt resolution for students, enhancing their overall learning experience.

4. With the upcoming Budget, what are Physics Wallah’s expectations on the education front?

We would like to appeal to the government to increase the education sector’s budget and reduce the GST slab from 18% to 5% on educational products and services. We aim to establish a strong foundation for the country’s children, particularly those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Given the evolving world and our shifting approach to education, driving a change to ensure affordable and quality education at scale needs more collaboration between the public and private sectors. For this, reducing the GST on educational services would also remove financial strain on parents, promoting affordability.

Apart from this, focusing on collectively enhancing youth skills to increase employability and reduce skilling gaps is imperative for the Indian economy’s growth.