– Ronita Torcato 

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued 15 Letters of Intent (LoIs) to 16 foreign higher education institutions from Australia, England Italy and the US to set up offshore campuses in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Greater Noida and Gurugram.

These include the University of York, the University of Bristol, University of Aberdeen (UK/Scotland) the University of Western Australia, Istituto Europeo di Design (Italy) and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

This information was shared by the minister of state for education, Dr Sukanta Majumdar, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha recently.

The LOIs were issued after several Foreign Higher Education Institutions (FHEIs) expressed interest in setting up branches in India.

These institutions have indicated that they will start courses in fields such as business, economics, accounting, finance, software engineering, data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, game design, entrepreneurship, innovation and biomedical sciences, keeping in mind the needs of global academic and industry sectors.

The UGC has launched a ‘single-window clearance’ mechanism and has constituted a high-level standing committee to evaluate proposals for setting up foreign higher education institutions in India.

The committee scrutinizes applications and submits its recommendations to the Commission. Based on these recommendations, the UGC gives in-principle approval and issues a letter of intent.

Only institutions ranked among the top 500 in the world are eligible and it is mandatory for applicants to submit up-to-date accreditation or quality assurance reports from the recognised institutions.

As per the UGC regulations, the degrees awarded by these institutions will be considered equivalent to the degrees awarded by Indian higher education institutions and no additional equivalence will be required from any other authority.

In addition, the government constituted a ‘Facilitation Committee for Foreign Higher Education Institutions’ on December 16, 2025. The committee has been entrusted with the task of assisting these institutions in setting up campuses in India after the submission of a letter of intent by the UGC.

This committee monitors and controls academic, financial, and administrative etc. matters, said Dr. Sukant Majumdar.

Annual fees range from Rupees 12 lakh to 18 lakh for undergraduate courses and up to 20 lakh for postgraduate or master’s programs.

Undergraduate admissions require a minimum of 75 percent in Class XII, alongwith prerequisites in subjects like English and Mathematics.

While initial operations are commencing in Mumbai suburbs like Powai and Vikhroli, the universities will subsequently transition to Navi Mumbai’s proposed International Education City project.

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