Internationalisation of Higher Education in India – NITI Aayog

• NITI Aayog released a report titled “Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations”.
• The report proposes 22 policy interventions to address the growing imbalance between outbound Indian students and inbound international students.
• In 2024, for every 1 foreign student studying in India, nearly 28 Indian students pursued higher education abroad, indicating a structural asymmetry.

Significance of Internationalisation of Higher Education

• Academic Competitiveness: Global exposure improves research quality, curriculum relevance, and faculty standards.
• Soft Power Projection: International campuses and students enhance India’s cultural and intellectual influence.
• Brain Gain: Attracting foreign scholars can partially offset talent outflow.
• NEP 2020 Goals: Aligns with National Education Policy’s vision of making India a global education hub.

Reforms Proposed by NITI Aayog

• Student & Faculty Mobility: Launch of Vishwa Bandhu Scholarships and Fellowships to attract foreign students and faculty.
• Bharat Vidya Kosh: Set up a $10 billion national research sovereign fund, with 50% diaspora/philanthropy contribution matched by government support.
• Academic Mobility: Launch an EU’s Erasmus+ like multilateral mobility programme (“Tagore Framework”) tailored to groupings such as ASEAN, BRICS and BIMSTEC.
• Institutional Expansion: Easing regulations to allow foreign universities to establish campuses in India.
  • Exploration of a “campus-within-campus” model, enabling collaboration between Indian and foreign institutions.
  • Promotion of joint degrees, dual degrees, and twinning programmes.
• Ranking Reform: Expand NIRF to include parameters like outreach, inclusivity and global partnerships to incentivise international engagement.
• Diaspora Outreach: Create Bharat ki AAN (Alumni Ambassador Network) to brand Indian higher education through globally placed alumni.

Challenges Faced for Internationalisation of Higher Education

• Outbound Bias: Strong preference among Indian students for foreign degrees due to perceived quality gaps.
• Regulatory Rigidity: Multiple approvals discourage foreign institutions from entering India.
• Limited Global Visibility: Indian universities lack strong international branding.
• Research Constraints: Low funding and weak industry–academia linkages reduce global competitiveness.

Way Forward

• Fast-Track Visas: Introduce a special “Academic Visa” category with longer validity (covering the entire course duration + 1 year for internships) to replace the cumbersome annual renewal process.
• English-Taught Programmes (ETP): Learning from Japan’s “Global 30” Project, Indian public universities must designate specific courses (especially in STEM and Indic studies) to be taught entirely in English to accommodate non-Hindi speaking international students.
• Alumni Diplomacy: Activate the Bharat ki AAN (Alumni Ambassador Network). Indian missions abroad should host annual galas for foreign alumni of Indian universities, turning them into soft-power ambassadors who recommend India to the next generation.
• Special Education Zones (SEZs): Designate specific zones (like GIFT City in Gujarat) as “Global Education Hubs” with zero tax for 10 years for foreign universities setting up campuses.
• Ranking Parameters: As suggested, the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) must aggressively weight “International Outlook” (foreign students/faculty ratio). This will force Indian universities to prioritise internationalisation to maintain their domestic rank.