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According to an official statement, UGC- The University Grants Commission has announced the draft guidelines for establishing campuses of international higher education institutions in the country and invited recommendations and feedback from the public on the same. The guidelines are under the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).

In an official release, the Commission said the guidelines on the Internationalisation of Higher Education in 2021, which contained provisions such as placing up an Office for International Affairs and Alumni Connect Cell in the Universities, have been reported.

However, the programmes delivered under these regulations will not be permitted online, and universities will have to carry out the courses in offline mode only.

It said NEP 2020 has predicted that leading universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.

For this, a legislative framework facilitating such entry will be set in place, and such universities will gain special dispensation about regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other independent institutions of India, it said.

A regulatory framework permitting the entry of higher-ranked international Universities will offer an international dimension to higher education, allow Indian students to acquire foreign qualifications at a reasonable cost, and make India an appealing global study destination, the UGC said.

The guidelines called “University Grants Commission(UGC) (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023,” aims to enable the entry of foreign higher educational institutes into India, it said.

The UGC said these regulations should regulate the entry and functions of Foreign Universities or Institutes in India to conduct UG, PG, doctoral, post-doctoral, award degrees, diplomas, other programmes, and certificates in all fields.

No Foreign Higher Educational Institute (FHEI) will be authorized to set up campuses in the nation without the approval of the University Grants Commission (UGC), it said.

The foreign educational institution (FHEI) should be within the leading 500 of overall/subject-wise global rankings, as decided by the UGC from time to time, in its home jurisdiction, it said.

The foreign institution has to guarantee that the quality of education imparted by it in its Indian campus is as good as that of the main campus in the land of origin, the release said.

The qualifications granted to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equal to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the foreign higher educational institutions in the main campus located in the nation of origin, the commission said.