Four more foreign universities set for India launch

New Indian Express

16 hours ago

NEW DELHI: The fifth anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was marked by the handover of Letters of Intent (LoIs) from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to four universities to open their campuses in India - three from Australia and one from UK.
They were handed over by the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday during the launch of an education summit, Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam (ABSS) 2025.
Projects for more than Rs 4,000 crore across the country including the campus inaugurations were launched by Pradhan.
The Western Sydney University will open its campus in Greater Noida, La Trobe University in Bengaluru, and Victoria University in Noida while the University of Bristol will open in Mumbai. With these four, the number of universities handed over the LoI to open their campuses stands at six with one campus already opened.
The University of Liverpool was handed over the LoI for a campus in Bengaluru in May 2025 and the University of Southampton in August 2024. The latter became the first to open its campus in Gurugram in Haryana on June 16 this year under the new NEP policy. 'Many more such campuses are in the offing,' a senior education official said.
Dr Nicolene Murdoch, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Western Sydney University, said its campus was on course to commence classes by August or September 2026. 'We will be offering Bachelors in Business Administration and in IT to start with. We are expecting atleast 100 students to join us in the inaugural year in these graduate streams.'
Infrastructure work has already commenced and the first phase will be ready next year, she said. 'In the future, we are looking at inviting both Indian companies and Australian ones to offer placements for our students,' Murdoch added.
Pradhan said, 'Indian ethos lies at the core of NEP. Over the past five years, the government has succeeded in taking NEP 2020 from policy to practice – bringing about a paradigm shift in the education system and reaching classrooms, campuses and communities.'
As the nation moved towards the Viksit Bharat 2027, the NEP serves as a national mission guiding the country. Minister of State for Education Jayanth Choudhary read out a speech from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mark the significant occasion. Education ministers from several states took part in the event.
'Better placement opportunities for students ahead'
Infrastructure work has already commenced and the first phase will be ready next year, Dr Nicolene Murdoch, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Western Sydney University said. 'In the future, we are looking at inviting both Indian companies and Australian ones to offer placements for our students,' she added.