Exclusive - Indian Campuses Of Foreign Universities In 2 Years: Official

The first Indian campuses of prestigious foreign universities may come up within two years, the chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC) told NDTV on Friday, a day after draft rules for the massive move were cleared.

"We are trying to create more awareness about the new regulation. We are writing to 55 ambassadors of foreign countries who are located in New Delhi where these top universities are located," M Jagadesh Kumar said.

"We are also writing to the Indian ambassadors in these countries. We are contacting the universities too. There is an online application process, and then we will give them a letter of intent... within two years of giving the permission, we expect they will build a campus, and then they start their academic programme. In the next two years or so, there is going to be a lot of activity from the UGC side," he said.

Asked if he expected to see the first such campus in about two years, Mr Kumar said, "Hopefully, that should happen."

Mr Kumar also said the rules have been geared towards preserving the autonomy of the institutions as well as protecting India's national interests. In the event of strong differences, these institutions can go to court, he said.

The UGC chief assured that the government body will not set a fee cap, but said universities will need to be "realistic". He said the ranking for the Indian branches of these foreign universities will be the same as the international rank that these institutes presently hold.

"If the costs are too high, they will not be able to attract many students... This move will open up international education to many more students," he said.

In a landmark step for a country that sees lakhs of students go abroad for education each year, the UGC on Thursday announced a step toward allowing leading foreign universities such as Yale, Oxford and Stanford to set up campuses and award degrees as part of an overhaul of India's higher education.

The local campus will be allowed to decide on admission criteria for domestic and foreign students, fee structure and scholarship, and send back funds to their countries, according to the draft. The institutions will have the autonomy to recruit faculty and staff.

The final norms will be ratified by the end of the month after considering feedback. The move hopes to draw foreign universities that rank within the top 500 of overall or subject-wise global rankings or are reputed in their home countries.