5 global universities get nod to open campuses in India

NEW DELHI: India's push to become a global education hub is gathering momentum, with five foreign universities receiving Letters of Intent (LoIs) to establish campuses in the country. Close to a dozen international institutions by the start of the next academic session are likely to have an Indian campus, according to govt sources.

The LoIs - cleared after evaluation by the University Grants Commission - have gone to Victoria University (Australia), University of Liverpool (UK), Western Sydney University (Australia), Illinois Institute of Technology (US) and Istituto Europeo di Design (Italy). In addition, six more are under scrutiny & being evaluated by Liberalized Degree Campuses (LDC) committee.

Till now, three foreign universities have established physical campuses in India - Australia's Deakin University and University of Wollongong in Gujarat's GIFT City, and UK's University of Southampton in Gurgaon.

"Several universities are in the pipeline. Out of them, five have received LoIs. As per my knowledge, six more are under scrutiny and being evaluated by our LDC committee," said union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in an exclusive conversation. "We've engaged with several top global universities with high QS rankings and strong funding - only such universities will be considered. They must meet all our criteria," he added. The upcoming campuses are expected to offer high-quality courses in STEM and management, sectors identified as national priorities.