Centre aiming to quadruple intake of foreign students in India by 2030

At least 2-3 more foreign universities to open campuses in India this year

The Centre is aiming to quadruple the yearly intake of international students in Indian educational institutions to 200,000 by 2030 from around 50,000 currently.

 

This comes as the government aims to market India as a transnational education hub, offering policy certainty and geopolitical stability to students. 

“The government has intensified its Study in India programme and is working closely with universities and states to achieve this goal,” said an official with the Department of Higher Education. 

As part of this effort, he added that talks are going on with both central and state universities to expand capacity and ensure adequate infrastructure, such as hostel facilities for international students. 

The Ministry of Education has informed the Rajya Sabha recently that India has 72,218 foreign students from 200 countries currently studying in the country. 

 

The issue was discussed during the Chief Secretaries Conference in January, with states expected to play a key role. This is because many foreign students are expected to enrol in state universities. 

 

“Foreign higher educational institutions (FHEIs) setting up campuses in India will also be allowed to admit international students,” he said.

 

Officials added that the government is in talks with at least two to three more FHEIs to open campuses in India this year.

 

While the institutes were not named, officials told Business Standard that these would include institutes from the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia.

 

Till now, 19 FHEIs have been allowed to open campuses in India, by getting letters of intent (LoIs) from the ministry. Of these, the University of Southampton has already started classes at its Gurugram campus.

 

While batch sizes will initially be small, officials said that almost all FHEIs have kept their tuition costs 25 to 50 per cent lower than what it costs in their respective countries.

 

“This was not a prerequisite, but the universities have done so to make their education more economical for Indian students,” the official added.

 

The development follows the University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) 2023 notification of rules facilitating the entry of foreign higher educational institutions into India, as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reforms.

 

According to these regulations, foreign institutions seeking to establish campuses in India must rank within the top 500 globally in either overall or subject-wise rankings.

 

They must demonstrate outstanding expertise in their fields, subject to UGC approval.