Foreign varsities setting up in India to only offer offline classes: UGC

New Delhi: On Thursday, January 5, M Jagadesh Kumar, chairman of the University Grants Commission, issued guidelines for foreign universities establishing campuses in India.

Foreign varsities that do set up in the country will be at the liberty to design their own admission process, and can only offer full time physical classes. Distance learning or online teaching will not be within the purview for the varsities setting up in India. The cross-border fund transfers would be governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, said UGC chief.

The foreign universities establishing campuses in the country will receive preliminary approval for a ten-year period, said Kumar.

According to the UGC, foreign HEIs will be classified based on their rankings among the top 500 universities in the global world ranking, as well as foreign institutions that are not participants in the global ranking but are highly regarded in their home country. To establish campuses in India, foreign institutions must meet the UGC's eligibility criteria.

To protect students' interests, Foreign HEIs are not permitted to discontinue any programme or campus without prior approval from the UGC. If any institution fails to follow or violates the Commission's regulations, a penalty will be imposed, and the UGC has the authority to suspend the functions of such HEIs.