New Delhi: The Ministry of Human Resource Development has agreed to allow foreign universities to open campuses in the country under a regulatory framework, according to a report in the Deccan Herald.The HRD ministry has introduced provisions in the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill which seeks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with a single regulator. The Bill will also bring law education under its ambit.The Bill, which has been formulated by the ministry, will be tabled before the Union cabinet some time this month. The move is a reversal of the BJP’s earlier stand on the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill moved by the UPA-II government.Speaking to the Deccan Herald, ministry officials said that foreign universities would be encouraged to set up their campuses in India. “But only reputed foreign universities will be allowed to set up their campus and operate under a regulatory framework,” official sources said.Several attempts had been made by previous governments to allow the opening of foreign universities’ campuses in India. In 1995, a Bill to permit the entry of foreign universities was drafted but not passed. In 2005-06, another Bill drafted to this end was unable to get the cabinet’s approval.Under the UPA government, the HRD ministry under the aegis of Congress leader Kapil Sibal put forth the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010. However, the Bill was unable to gather the requisite support in Parliament and eventually lapsed after the UPA government finished its tenure.Also read: Foreign Universities Will Be Taking a Risk if They Enter IndiaEver since the BJP-led NDA came to power in 2014, the Union ministry of commerce has vigorously pushed for allowing foreign universities to open campuses in India in a bid to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).A strategy paper shared by the commerce ministry with the ministries of external affairs and HRD and the NITI Aayog in April 2015 advocated in favour of “internationalisation” of Indian education to earn foreign exchange. The revival of the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill was one of the four action points cited by the Commerce Ministry in the strategy paper.The NITI Aayog was subsequently asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare a framework to provide a transparent and single-window clearance for foreign education providers.While the HRD ministry initially opposed the commerce ministry’s proposal to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), it eventually agreed to include internationalisation as one of its focus areas in its five-year plan called ‘Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme’ (EQUIP) released in August 2019.One of the main reservations against the entry of foreign varsities in India was they would raise the cost of education and render them inaccessible for a large segment of the population.Currently, UGC regulations allow for the operation of foreign universities in India under a twin arrangement with the Indian higher educational institutes.According to a study by the Association of Indian Universities in 2017, over 600 foreign institutions were then operating in India in collaboration with Indian higher education institutions.
