Over a dozen foreign branch campuses slated for this year

India continues to welcome some of the world’s most prestigious universities to its shores, with the country’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan revealing this week that the number of foreign universities set to establish campuses in India this academic year now stands at 15.

Pradhan was speaking at the “letter of intent” (LoI) ceremony of the United Kingdom’s Liverpool University in New Delhi on 26 May. Liverpool is the second foreign university, after the UK’s Southampton University, to be issued a LoI under the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) relating to the establishment of foreign universities in India.

Southampton began academic courses this year at its Gurugram campus in Haryana state.

Pradhan noted: “The University of Liverpool is the fourth foreign university to publicly announce its presence in India. By this academic year, 15 foreign universities will be coming to India, especially in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics].”

Others are Australia’s Deakin and Wollongong universities in Ahmedabad’s GIFT City in Gujarat, and the UK’s York University in Mumbai, as well as Southampton University.

The UGC, the country’s higher education regulator, confirmed several international institutions were in advanced stages of setting up campuses.

According to the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), which represents more than 1,000 universities in India, new foreign campuses present a “remarkable opportunity”, as about one to 1.2 million Indian students are currently pursuing education abroad.

AIU Secretary General Pankaj Mittal told University World News: “Many foreign universities charge higher tuition fees for international students, but studying in India can alleviate this financial burden and, by remaining in India, students can sidestep the high living costs often associated with studying overseas, thus making quality education more accessible and affordable.”

“This setup can provide students with a cost-effective way to access international education while enjoying the benefits of living in their home country,” Mittal said.

Campus in Bengaluru

The University of Liverpool, one of the UK’s leading research-intensive institutions, received formal approval from the UGC to open a campus in Bengaluru (Bangalore), the capital of the southern state of Karnataka, which is a major technology industry hub and home to the headquarters of global Indian tech companies such as Infosys, CISCO, and Wipro, as well as a major centre for Google and Microsoft.

Liverpool is also the first foreign university campus in Bengaluru. While London’s prestigious Imperial College in April announced it is establishing an innovation hub in Bengaluru, this will not be a teaching campus.

Liverpool already has experience of operating a campus in Asia, having set up its first foreign campus in 2006 in China in partnership with Xi’an Jiaotong University. Known as Liverpool Xi’an Jaiotong University, it is situated in China’s east coast town of Suzhou in Jiangsu province.

Among other universities set to begin operations between 2026 and 2027, two are from Australia and one each from the US and Italy.

Australia’s Western Sydney University (WSU) will set up in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, close to New Delhi, for its first Indian campus and has applied for UGC permission to set up others in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country.

WSU also has experience of operating campuses abroad, having opened a new branch campus in Surabaya, Indonesia, last September. WSU is recognised for its leadership in innovation and technology education.

Another Australian university with plans to set up in India, Victoria University, has not thus far revealed the location of its branch campus; it has said it plans to introduce flexible learning models tailored to local needs, with a strong emphasis on practical education in business, IT, and hospitality.

Chicago-based Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) will be the first US university to open a physical campus in India, in Mumbai, leveraging its strengths in engineering, technology, and applied sciences.

The proposed new campus is part of Illinois Tech’s push into Asia, with approval by China’s Education Ministry this month to set up the Illinois College of Engineering in China, in partnership with the Beijing Information Science and Technology University.

The Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) from Italy is renowned for its excellence in fashion, design, and visual communication, with multiple campuses in Italy, including Rome, Milan, Turin and Venice, as well as campuses in Spain and Brazil.

IED said it now aims to bring its European creative heritage to a campus in India, offering aspiring designers access to global expertise.

Global exchange opportunities

Scheduled to welcome its inaugural cohort of undergraduate and postgraduate students in August 2026, Liverpool will initially offer programmes in business management, accounting and finance, computer science, and biomedical sciences.

Notably, it will also introduce a programme in game design – a unique offering for a UK university campus in India. It will also provide UK-based students with exchange opportunities to India.

“The Indian government’s ambition to significantly increase enrolment in higher education is visionary, and we are excited to be developing plans to play our part.

“Opening a campus in the State of Karnataka and [city of] Bengaluru feels like the next natural step, building on the fantastic partnerships and collaborations we already enjoy there,” said Liverpool Vice-Chancellor Tim Jones.

According to the Education Ministry, the Bengaluru campus will create a research-intensive environment, with important fundamental, applied and industry-driven research based on the Bengaluru campus, “providing solutions to a range of global and local challenges and needs”.

India as a ‘trusted partner’

Pradhan said this week the Liverpool LoI “reaffirms India's emergence as a trusted partner in global higher education”.

However, even as more foreign universities are entering India to promote academic collaboration and knowledge exchange, several prominent Indian universities are opting to cut ties with institutions in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

These nations are perceived as politically hostile to India after they openly supported Pakistan in last month’s military attacks on each other’s territory in the wake of the 22 April terrorist attack on mainly Indian tourists visiting Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The AIU also encouraged Indian higher education institutions to end academic partnerships with universities in these countries. In a letter dated 15 May, the AIU highlighted the support Bangladesh and Turkey provided to Pakistan as the rationale behind the move.

Several universities, including Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, and several Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), including IIT Roorkee and IIT Bombay, cancelled or, as in the case of Delhi University, said they were reconsidering their collaborative agreements with universities in Turkey.

Concerns have been voiced privately by Indian academics that such politically motivated actions could compromise the credibility and autonomy of Indian universities and could lead to Indian institutions being perceived as unreliable global partners, susceptible to sudden policy shifts driven by geopolitical tensions.

This could deter some foreign universities from establishing campuses in India, they noted.

The AIU’s Mittal stressed the importance of academic institutions refraining from engaging with nations perceived as “hostile” to India. “AIU is concerned about the ties between Indian institutions and their Turkish counterparts due to Turkey's stance on Pakistan,” she said.

National interests

“Given the current geopolitical situation, we believe that national interests should take precedence. We’ve written to universities, requesting that they reconsider their partnerships with Turkish institutions if they perceive Turkey's actions as unfriendly towards India.

“The letter asks them to evaluate their relationships and potentially sever ties with Turkish universities if deemed necessary,” she noted.

Mittal, however, stressed that this is an appeal rather than a mandate. “AIU doesn't have the authority to make it obligatory for universities to snap ties with Turkish institutions.

Nonetheless, in the national interest, AIU is appealing to them to consider this matter and take action if they deem it appropriate,” she said.

Mittal said: “Unlike regulatory bodies like the UGC, which can enforce mandates, our role is to facilitate and appeal to universities to make their own decisions regarding their international partnerships.”

UWN Asia Editor Yojana Sharma contributed to this article