Bristling with a gamut of discretionary rules, regulations and conditions, the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, is unlikely to enthuse top-ranked foreign universities to establish owned campuses in India – writes Summiya Yasmeen Seventeen years after the National Knowledge Commission headed by US-based billionaire technocrat Sam Pitroda first recommended the entry of foreign higher education institutions (FHEIs) into India, the BJP government at the Centre has given the formal greenlight for them to establish campuses on Indian terra firma. On November 7, the Delhi-based University Grants Commission (UGC) notified the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, providing a legal and regulatory framework for foreign universities to establish owned campuses in India. According to Prof. Jagadesh Kumar, UGC chairman, the regulations will “facilitate the entry of FHEIs into India in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommendations and provide an international dimension to higher education in India”. However, not many in Indian academia — or in the head offices of universities abroad — are enthused by the regulations. After initial euphoria of foreign universities having been permitted to establish sprawling new campuses with their trademark superior infrastructure in India, there’s growing awareness that the conditions and regulations fine print is less than inviting. UGC’s five-page notification setting out the terms and conditions for entry of FHEIs which enjoy real autonomy back home, bristles with a gamut of discretionary rules and regulations that are likely to put off their management boards. For a start, every applicant foreign university should be ranked among the global Top 500 by agencies approved by UGC “from time to time”. Next, the applicant foreign university must give an undertaking that the degrees/qualifications it awards are “at par with that of the main campus in the country of origin” and that “the qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the FHEI in the main campus located in the country of origin for all purposes, including higher education and employment”. There are other stringent conditions imposed upon FHEIs thinking of tapping into the world’s largest higher education market. The fees structure should be “transparent and reasonable”; “the qualifications of the faculty appointed shall be at par with the main campus of the country of origin” and the FHEI “shall ensure that the foreign faculty appointed to teach at the Indian campus shall stay at the campus in India for a reasonable period” and that licensed FHEIs “shall not offer any such programme of study which jeopardises the national interest of India or standards of higher education in India” or are “contrary to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, or morality”. Another provision states the FHEIs need prior approval of UGC before starting any new programme. Moreover, the commission…
