Promoting Foreign Universities in India | 28 Jun 2025

Source: TH 

Why in News? 

The entry of foreign universities into India marks a significant shift in the country’s higher education landscape. Encouraged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the UGC (FHEI) Regulations, 2023, this presents both opportunities and challenges for India’s education ecosystem. 

• While it offers opportunities for global integration and academic excellence, it also raises concerns about equity, access, affordability, inclusivity, and alignment with national priorities. 

What is Driving the Entry of Foreign Universities into India's Higher Education Sector? 

• India’s Demographic & Economic Potential: With over 50% of the population under the age of 30 and a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education just under 30%, India offers a vast untapped higher education market.  
  • Rising incomes, a growing middle class, English proficiency, and increasing aspirations for international education make India an attractive destination for foreign universities. 
• Global Push for Diversification: Universities in the UK, Australia, and Canada, where international students comprise approximately one third of total enrolments are facing stagnating domestic enrolments and declining public funding.  
  • Recent visa restrictions and enrolment caps in these countries have pushed institutions to explore new, high-potential markets like India to sustain growth. 
• Revenue Diversification & Global Footprint: Setting up campuses in India (e.g., GIFT City, Navi Mumbai) allows foreign universities to diversify revenue, reduce dependency on outbound mobility, and offer affordable international degrees while expanding global visibility. 
• Collaboration with Indian Institutions: India already hosts globally ranked institutions (e.g., IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore, Delhi University).  
  • Foreign universities can partner with these colleges to open joint campuses, using existing infrastructure instead of building from scratch. This model ensures faster entry, lower investment, and strengthens academic collaboration. 
  • Eg: Deakin University (Australia) has partnered with IIM Bangalore prior to launching its campus in GIFT City. 

What are the Benefits for India from Foreign Universities Entering its Higher Education Sector? 

• Global Education Access: Foreign universities offer internationally benchmarked curricula, globally recognised degrees, and experienced faculty within India.  
  • This allows students to access high-quality education without the burden of high overseas costs, visa hurdles, and living expenses, thereby promoting affordability and educational inclusion. 
• Brain Drain and Forex Retention: India saw a rise in outbound students from 5.8 lakh in 2019 to 9 lakh in 2023, with over 75% intending to settle abroad.  
  • Domestic foreign campuses can provide similar academic value at home, thereby retaining talent and saving significant foreign exchange outflow. 
• Research and Academic Reforms: Collaboration with foreign universities can promote joint research centres, faculty exchanges, and governance reforms, enhancing academic standards, boosting research output, and strengthening innovation and excellence in Indian HEIs. 
• Industry Skills and Employability: Foreign universities offer industry-aligned programs with emphasis on practical learning, internships, and entrepreneurship, helping bridge the skill gap and enhancing the employability of Indian graduates in both domestic and global markets. 
• Mutual Facilitation & Strategic Diplomacy: India can negotiate reciprocal facilitation, offering land, regulatory support, and infrastructure assistance, in return for helping Indian institutions establish campuses abroad, particularly in Gulf nations and Europe.  
  • This would enhance educational diplomacy, promote internationalisation of Indian higher education, and strengthen soft power. 
• Positioning India as a Global Education Hub: With 52% of the population under 30, a tech-savvy, English-speaking youth, and strategic location, India is well-positioned to become an international education hub.  
  • Hosting foreign campuses promotes cross-border education, attracts students from South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, enhances India’s global academic presence, and fosters healthy competition for top HEIs like AIIMS, IIMs, and IITs, paving the way for India’s own Ivy League. 

What are the Key Challenges Related to Foreign Universities Campuses in India? 

• Affordability and Equity: Foreign branch campuses may charge high tuition fees, making them accessible mainly to the wealthy elite.  
  • This risks widening socio-economic inequality in higher education, potentially excluding talented students from economically weaker sections, and undermines the NEP 2020 goal of inclusive access to quality education. 
• Limited Short-Term Systemic Impact: Though foreign universities are a major reform step, only a few campuses with limited students will open in the near term.  
  • So, their effect on improving Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and overall education system will be small and gradual. 
• Commercialisation & Sustainability Challenges: Foreign institutions may prioritise profit over academic integrity, leading to marketisation of education and potential quality dilution without strong regulation.  
  • Experiences from China, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf show that low enrolments, high costs, and local misalignment often led to campus closures. 
• Regulatory and Infrastructure Barriers:  Despite enabling frameworks like the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, foreign universities may still face challenges related to land acquisition, taxation, labour laws, and infrastructure readiness in general areas.  
  • However, in designated zones like GIFT City, which offer regulatory exemptions and a more conducive business environment, these barriers are significantly reduced. 
• Cultural and Academic Disconnect: Foreign universities may face challenges in adapting to India’s social, linguistic, and cultural context.  
  • Without effective local integration, through relevant curricula, Indian faculty, and collaboration with local institutions, they risk becoming elitist, isolated campuses, disconnected from India’s educational ecosystem and societal needs. 

What Should be the Strategy for Sustainable Collaboration with Foreign Universities in India? 

• Ensuring Inclusive Access: To align with NEP 2020, regulations must mandate scholarships and affirmative inclusion measures for students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.  
  • Financial aid, from either the government or institutions, is essential to promote wider access and uphold social justice in foreign campuses. 
• Flexible but Accountable Governance: A tiered and differentiated regulatory model should offer operational ease to top-ranked global institutions while ensuring strict oversight on academic quality, financial transparency, and ethical conduct.  
  • Foreign universities must remain accountable to Indian laws, student rights, and anti-exploitation norms. 
• Collaborative Research & Capacity Building: Foreign universities should engage in shared campuses, MoUs, joint research centres, and faculty development programs with Indian institutions. The UGC must promote such partnerships to enhance innovation, capacity building, and mutual learning. 
  • The government should encourage foreign–Indian college collaborations where Indian institutions provide infrastructure support and benefit from global visibility, while ensuring better Indianisation of foreign curricula. 
  • In the long term, India must build its own Ivy League–like institutions with a global presence, as seen in IIT campuses in the Gulf and Africa. 
• Local Relevance and Cultural Integration: Foreign universities should align with Indian educational values, linguistic diversity, and student needs by adapting curricula, avoiding replication of home models, and offering context-specific programs that support skill development and the knowledge economy. 

Conclusion 

The entry of foreign universities holds transformative potential for India’s higher education sector. However, their success will depend on adaptation to local contexts, affordable quality delivery, and collaboration with domestic institutions. With the right regulatory safeguards and visionary policies, this initiative can strengthen India’s position as a global knowledge hub.