Foreign Education Hubs (FEHs): India’s Chance for Global Supremacy

Foreign Education Hubs (FEHs) are gaining significant ground globally as integrated centres for learning, research and innovation. These hubs bring together universities, colleges, schools, research labs, startups, industry and regulators, creating a powerful knowledge ecosystem.

As higher education becomes increasingly internationalised, several progressive countries are using FEHs to fulfil their human capital ambitions. India is well placed to join and lead this race, driven by surging demand for quality higher education, given our ambitious GER (Gross Enrolment Rates) targets, fuelled by the liberalisation impetus provided under our National Education Policy (NEP 2020). The massive demand-supply gap for skilled and educated workforce in the country further adds to our advantage.    

The Indian context and past experiments

The internationalisation of India’s education sector is led by the NEP, which envisions the country as a knowledge economy built on research and a stronger industry-academia connect.
Important Milestones for Foreign Higher Education in India

Sources: NEP 2020, UGC, Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Proceedings, Maharashtra Government
 

As per the NEP directives, the University Grants Commission (UGC) permitted foreign universities to establish Indian campuses in 2023, subject to meeting specific conditions with respect to international rankings, financial commitment, equivalence of awards and research, among others. The UK’s University of Southampton was the first university permitted to set up a campus in Gurugram.

While these developments are recent, India’s experience with education hubs goes back more than a decade. While the journey has seen steady improvement, there have been a few setbacks along the way, such as a dearth of supporting infrastructure, governance challenges, stalled partnerships, etc. However, India is overcoming these challenges, both by learning from such obstacles and by adopting the global best practices.

Why FEHs?

Globally, FEHs have proven to foster academic excellence, innovation and employment. They offer various benefits to all the stakeholders involved and open doors for innovation. Their competitive presence could drive Indian universities to modernise, strengthen research and embrace technology more effectively.

 Benefits FEHs Offer to Stakeholders

Source: BDO India Analysis

Moving Ahead and Pulling it off

Realising the immense potential of the opportunity, some progressive states have already started envisioning FEHs and have taken suitable actions. For example, UP is offering 100% stamp duty exemption to the first five foreign universities and capital subsidies up to INR 100 crore. Similarly, Maharashtra is launching an EduCity within a new development project called “Third Mumbai,” inviting five foreign universities to set up campuses.

These are encouraging steps, positioning UP and Maharashtra as “first movers” in shaping India’s FEH landscape. Building on this momentum, our recommendations for building an effective framework for FEHs are provided below: 

• Fiscal Incentives: India may offer incentives on corporate tax, while state governments may provide land at subsidised rates and invest in support infrastructure such as transport, hostels and utilities. They may also subsidise merit-linked scholarships/internships for students. 
• Facilitating development of ecosystem: Top-ranked international and domestic schools and skilling centres should ideally be allowed to set up within the FEH to create a seamless path from school to university, supported by bridging programmes if required. 
• Research facilities and curriculum: The industry-academia consortia should be built early, ensuring curricula and research align with the national and state economic and developmental goals. R&D institutions may be established within the FEH to promote research collaboration between the two. 
• Conditional choice of location: Sites with existing urban infrastructure, strong transport links, and proximity to industry clusters should be selected for the development of FEHs.
• Single window clearance: Efforts must be undertaken to simplify approval processes for foreign universities at the central and state levels. An autonomous FEH Authority with the power to grant approvals, monitor performance, address challenges and coordinate with the central government/UGC may be established at the state level.
• With the above interventions, India’s FEHs can become global models for advancing academic excellence and fuelling innovation for solving critical global issues

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