To open doors for top foreign universities, the Human Resource Development Ministry has sent a proposal to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Department of Economic Affairs to permit them to come in as not-for-profit companies.
According to a senior official in the Ministry, the proposal is to allow only the top 400 foreign universities to enter India and set up campuses as not-for-profit companies as provided under the Companies Act.
While India opened up the education sector for foreign entities in April 2000 by allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign universities could not set up campuses because under the existing law, educational institutes can only be set up under a registered not-for-profit society or trust.
Foreign entities are prohibited from investing in societies and trusts under the existing FDI policy.
To ease the situation, it is proposed that foreign universities be allowed to establish companies under the Companies Act.
“The idea is to make foreign education available (to those who want it) at a more affordable cost and to arrest migration of talented students,” the official said.
Given that the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010, has been pending in Parliament for over three years since it was first introduced in Lok Sabha in May 2010, some industry experts also see this new move as backdoor entry.
The Bill has faced opposition from various quarters.
The Ministry official, however, denied any backdoor entry since these universities (which come in under Companies Act), will not provide Indian degrees as envisioned in the Bill.
He said the degrees provided by the Indian campuses of foreign universities will be considered foreign degrees and if these students wish to pursue further studies in an Indian institute or seek Government jobs they will have to seek equivalence for the degree as is required for other foreign degrees.
The Government would also mandate that the Universities are accredited in the country of origin.