UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023

These are the rules made by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that allow good foreign universities to open their own campuses in India. A foreign university that wants to come in must be among the world's top 500, or be excellent in a special field. Once the UGC approves it, the campus can give its own foreign degree to students in India. That degree is treated as equal to an Indian degree.

Why were these rules made?

Every year, lakhs of Indian students go abroad to study. In 2024, about 13 lakh Indian students were studying in other countries, and their families spend large amounts of foreign currency on fees and living costs. The idea is simple: if a good foreign university comes to India, a student can get a similar degree at home, at a lower total cost.

The government also hopes these campuses will bring new teaching methods, research links and competition that push Indian institutions to improve. India also wants to become a place where students from other countries come to study.

Where did the idea come from?

India tried to allow foreign universities once before. The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 was introduced in Parliament on 3 May 2010. It faced strong opposition and lapsed when the 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved in 2014. (A bill "lapses" when it dies without being passed, usually because the Lok Sabha's term ends.)

The idea came back in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. NEP 2020 said that top universities in the world, for example from the top 100, "will be facilitated to operate in India", and that a legal framework would be created for this. In 2022, the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) made separate rules for foreign campuses inside GIFT City in Gujarat. The UGC released draft rules in January 2023 and notified the final regulations on 7 November 2023.

Who can apply?

The rules use the term Foreign Higher Educational Institution (FHEI). It covers two kinds of applicants:

• A foreign university that ranks in the top 500 overall in global rankings at the time of applying.
• A foreign educational institution that ranks in the top 500 in a subject, or has outstanding expertise in a particular area, as judged by the UGC.

The institution must be properly recognised in its home country and must already offer programmes at that level there. Two or more foreign institutions can come together to set up one campus, but each one must meet these conditions on its own.

How does approval work, step by step?

1. The foreign institution applies online on the UGC portal, at any time of the year, and pays a one-time, non-refundable application fee. There is no yearly fee to the UGC.
2. A Standing Committee set up by the UGC checks the application: the institution's standing, the courses it plans, how it will help Indian students, and its planned buildings and facilities.
3. The committee gives its recommendation within 60 days. (The draft had said 45 days.)
4. The UGC may give in-principle approval within 60 days and issues a Letter of Intent (LoI). Think of an LoI as a "conditional yes": the UGC is saying, "You may go ahead and build the campus."
5. The campus must be set up within two years of the approval, unless the UGC extends this time.
6. After the campus is ready, the UGC gives final approval, and only then can classes begin.

A separate application is needed for each campus. So UWA's Mumbai and Chennai campuses each needed their own approval.

What can the campus do, and what can it not do?

• Fees and admissions: The campus decides its own admission process and its own fee structure. The UGC encourages it to give full or partial scholarships and fee concessions to Indian students based on merit or need.
• Mode of teaching: It must teach in physical classrooms. It cannot offer whole programmes online or through distance learning. Online lectures can be at most 10% of a programme.
• Faculty: It can hire teachers from India and abroad, but their qualifications must match the home campus. Foreign teachers sent to India must stay for at least one semester.
• Quality: The degree must be of the same quality as the one given at the main campus abroad, and is given in the name of the foreign institution.
• New courses: It needs prior UGC approval to start or stop any programme.
• No back-door entry: It cannot open study centres, learning centres or franchises (representative offices that just sell its courses) without the UGC's approval.
• National interest: It must not offer any programme that harms India's national interest or the standards of higher education in India.
• Money: The campus must be built and run from the foreign institution's own resources. Cross-border movement of money, including sending surplus funds back to the parent university, must follow the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. Any foreign donation must follow the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010.
• Students' safety net: If a campus or course is closed, the parent institution must arrange an alternative for the affected students.
• Reporting: The campus must send the UGC an annual report and an audit report, and put the annual report on its website. The UGC can inspect the campus and can suspend or cancel its approval if it breaks the rules.

Unlike the draft, which gave approval for 10 years at a time, the final rules do not fix a period of approval.

India's experience so far

• GIFT City (Gujarat): Under IFSCA's 2022 rules, Australia's Deakin University and University of Wollongong were the first foreign universities to get approval for campuses in India.
• University of Southampton (UK): Its Gurugram campus, opened in July 2025, was the first foreign campus to start operations under the UGC's 2023 regulations.
• As of August 2026, the UGC had issued 16 Letters of Intent to 15 foreign institutions. The University of Western Australia's Chennai campus received final approval in October 2026.

Commonly confused concepts

• UGC 2023 Regulations vs IFSCA 2022 Regulations: The UGC rules cover foreign campuses anywhere in India (outside GIFT City). The IFSCA rules cover branch campuses only inside GIFT City's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), which follows special financial rules.
• Branch campus vs twinning or joint degree: A branch campus is the foreign university's own campus in India, giving its own degree. In a twinning programme, a student studies partly in an Indian institution and partly abroad. In a joint or dual degree, an Indian and a foreign institution design and award the degree together. These collaborations come under separate UGC regulations.
• Letter of Intent vs final approval: The LoI is a conditional, early approval to build the campus. Classes can begin only after final approval.
• Foreign university campus vs private university: A private university in India is created by a state law and follows state and UGC rules on matters such as fees and reservation. A foreign campus is approved under the UGC's 2023 regulations and has freedom over its fees and admissions.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Cost and access: Critics point out that high fees (often ₹14 lakh to ₹23 lakh a year) put these campuses out of reach of most families. Supporters reply that they are still cheaper than studying abroad, where students also pay for travel and living in a costly foreign city.
• Commercialisation: Some teachers' groups and parties say freedom to set fees and send surplus abroad turns education into a business. The government's position is that the campuses add seats and quality without using public money.
• Social justice: Critics note that the regulations contain no requirement for caste-based reservation in admissions or jobs, unlike public institutions.
• Public institutions: Teachers' associations argue that thousands of faculty vacancies in state universities and government colleges need attention first. Experts say foreign campuses and public colleges are not a choice of one over the other; both need investment.
• Will top universities come? NEP 2020 spoke of the top 100, but the rules allow the top 500. So far, only a few very top-ranked universities have set up campuses. Critics fear some may run only cheap, popular courses (business, computer science) and not research.
• Way forward: Suggestions include more scholarships for poor students, clear disclosure of fees and results, closer checking of quality by the UGC, research partnerships with Indian institutions, and steady funding to fill vacancies in public colleges.

Concepts to Know

• University Grants Commission (UGC): The statutory body under the UGC Act, 1956 that sets standards for universities in India and gives grants to them.
• Global university rankings: Lists made by bodies such as QS and Times Higher Education (THE) that compare universities across the world using things like teaching, research and reputation.
• Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER): The number of students in higher education, as a percentage of all young people aged 18 to 23. If GER is 30%, about 30 out of 100 people in that age group are in college.
• FEMA: The law that controls how money moves between India and other countries.
• FCRA: The law that controls how organisations in India receive donations from foreign sources.
• GIFT City IFSC: Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, near Gandhinagar. Its International Financial Services Centre is a special zone with its own regulator, IFSCA, set up in 2020.