Wollongong university's campus in GIFT City to be operational in 2023

The University of Wollongong's campus in Gujarat's GIFT City is expected to be operational by the end of this year and admit the first batch of students, Australian Education Minister Jason Clare announced on Thursday.

The campus will initially start "small" and offer finance and STEM courses, said Clare, who is on a visit to India till March 3.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday announced that two Australian varsities -- Wollongong and Deakin -- would open their campuses in GIFT City.

"The University of Wollongong has signed a Letter of Intent with the Indian government and we are hopeful that the campus in GIFT City will be operational by end of this year and start admitting first batch of students," Clare told PTI on sidelines of an event.

The minister, however, did not share a timeline for setting up of Deakin University's campus.

"More details will be available during the Australian Prime Minister's visit next week," he said.

Responding to a question about Australia's plan for opening campuses in India beyond GIFT City, Clare said three or four Australian varsities might come together to open a joint campus in India.

Deakin University is ranked 266 in QS World University Rankings and is also among the top 50 young varsities. It has four campuses in Australia and many students from India go to study there. University of Wollongong is ranked 185th in the world, according to the same rankings. It was also the first foreign university to open a campus in the UAE.

Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City is an emerging global financial and IT services hub, a first-of-its-kind in India, designed to be on or above par with globally benchmarked business districts.