India cannot fix its education brain drain without globalising at home

As Western nations tighten student visas, a NITI Aayog report flags a chance for India to emerge as a global education hub-if structural gaps in research, regulation and visas are fixed

The report of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on the internationalisation of higher education comes at a critical moment when patterns in global education are shifting, with traditional host countries, such as the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and Australia, tightening visa norms and increasing costs for foreign students. This has opened up a unique window for India to position itself as a preferred destination for higher education and research. The report highlights a striking imbalance in student mobility: For every one international student studying in India, 19 Indian students went abroad as of 2022. While India hosted just around 47,000 foreign students in 2022, over 1.3 million Indian students were enrolled overseas last year. The financial cost of this imbalance is significant: Outward remittances for education rose from $0.16 billion in 2013-14 to nearly $3.4 billion in 2023-24. These figures reflect not just a funding gap but a broader brain drain, with too many ambitious Indian students choosing opportunities abroad rather than at home. The report warns that if left unchecked, this trend will undermine India’s competitive edge in a knowledge-driven global economy. This policy push also comes alongside the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, introduced recently to overhaul the regulatory framework for higher education. The Bill empowers a new Standards Council (Manak Parishad) to build non-binding regulatory frameworks that support internationalisation efforts. 

According to a December 2025 report by Deloitte India and Knight Frank India, foreign universities operating in India could serve over 600,000 students by 2040 and help save nearly $113 billion in foreign exchange, which would otherwise be spent on overseas education. As of 2025, Indian institutions operate 24 offshore campuses across Asia (including West Asia), Africa, and Europe while 16 foreign universities have received approval to set up onshore campus in India. Three foreign universities — namely, Deakin University and the University of Wollongong at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, and the University of Southampton in Gurugram — are among the earliest foreign higher-educational institutions to establish campus in the country. India’s internationalisation challenge is not merely one of perception but of persistent structural weaknesses. Research capacity remains limited, with gross expenditure on research and development stagnating at 0.6 to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product, below the global average, and lower than in countries like China, South Korea, and the US, weakening India’s ability to attract global faculty and research students. Fragmented regulation across the University Grants Commission, professional councils, and state authorities delays approval for joint and dual degrees, appointments of foreign faculty, and research collaboration. Inadequate campus infrastructure, limited scholarships for inbound students, an absence of attractive post-study work pathways, and inconsistent visa norms further erode India’s competitiveness as a global education destination, despite its cost advantages. 

To address this imbalance, the report recommends a decisive shift towards “internationalisation at home”. This involves aligning Indian curricula with global standards, expanding programmes for joint and dual degrees, deepening international research collaboration, and strengthening international relations offices within universities. Scaling up targeted scholarships and mobility programmes is critical to both retaining domestic talent and attracting global learners. In particular, schemes such as the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration, the Global Initiative of Academic Networks, and the Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty Scheme can be leveraged to significantly expand faculty mobility and joint research output. Embedding globally compatible credit-transfer frameworks and Collaborative Online International Learning modules can further democratise international exposure without physical mobility. If implemented effectively, internationalisation can evolve from a regulatory aspiration into a strategic instrument for talent retention, research excellence, and long-term economic resilience.