Govt has no info about foreign varsities operating in India

The government today said it has no "authentic information" about the operation of foreign universities in the country.

"In the absence of a Central law for regulating the entry and operations of foreign universities, no authentic information about their operation in the country is available," Minister of State for HRD D Purandeswari told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

"However, All India Council for Technical Education [AICTE] has issued regulations for providing technical education in India in collaboration with foreign institutions or universities," she said.

The AICTE, according to the minister, has approved six collaborations with foreign universities, institutions under the regulations.

Purandeswari also noted that the government has not done any study on the functioning of foreign universities in the country.

However, she cited a study by National University of Educational Planning and Administration, a deemed to be university, which had identified 143 Indian institutions and 161 foreign education providers have currently engaged in collaboration in the country.

"The total number of collaborations was 230. Of which 86 were with educational institutions from the UK, followed by 79 from the US," she added.