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In a proposal to attract international students, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines for higher education institutions about introducing courses on Indian heritage and culture, such as Vedic mathematics, ayurveda, yoga, universal human values, Sanskrit, among others.

The draft guidelines say that there will be short-term multi-tier credit-based modular programmes with numerous entry and exit based on Indian heritage and culture to "boost the interest of people from abroad to visit India."

Indian literature, Indian sculpture, Indian music and Indian dance forms, crafts and craftsmanship, drama, rituals, and Indian knowledge systems have also been added to these programmes.

The draft guidelines note that the courses can be delivered at three levels - introductory, intermediate, and advanced.

The draft guidelines read that people from diverse nations with an interest in Indian heritage and knowledge systems and those who have registered in such specific courses for acquiring knowledge shall be eligible for admission. Specific eligibility requirements may be defined by the university or the institution offering such courses.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) added that faculty members of different departments would be roped in to teach these types of multi and transdisciplinary programmes and that institutions, libraries, and specialists of the appropriate disciplines are to be added, to the excursion.

With a hybrid learning mode, every programme is ready to have 60 hours, and the respective institutions will need to form the curriculum.

With the execution of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), there has been an increasing focus on Indian knowledge systems, culture, and heritage.

For example, in universities like Delhi University (DU), programmes like Vedic mathematics, yoga, ayurveda, ethics and values in ancient Indian traditions, and nutrition, among other papers, were delivered to first-semester students as part of the value addition courses. As per the officials, with every semester, the programmes/courses are likely to rise to provide a more considerable option to students.