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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday said that nine leading universities of the United Kingdom have now received approval to open campuses in India under the National Education Policy (NEP).
Addressing a special briefing on the official visit of the UK Prime Minister to India, Misri said, “There are nine major UK universities that have now received approval to open their campuses in India.”
He said, “This is literally a silent revolution in the education sector that is happening under the NEP. And you might know that a few months ago, in July, the University of Southampton actually became the first university to open a physical campus in India and has already inducted its first cohort of students.”
Misri also underlined the scale of the delegation accompanying Starmer on his first official visit to India. “Prime Minister Starmer is accompanied by a very high-powered delegation. He is accompanied by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle; the Secretary of State for Scotland, Douglas Alexander; the Investment Minister, Jason Stockwood and an unprecedented 125-strong business delegation.”
He said, “This is the largest ever business delegation from the United Kingdom to visit India. Additionally, this delegation includes nine Vice-Chancellors of leading UK universities, all of whom have plans for India and are in fact already implementing their plans for India.”
These nine universities are: University of Southampton in Gurgaon, Queens University of Belfast in GIFT City, Coventry University in GIFT City, University of Surrey in GIFT City and University of Bristol in GIFT City. York University in Mumbai, Liverpool University in Bengaluru, Lancaster University in Bengaluru and the University of Aberdeen in Mumbai got approval to open campuses in India.
Meanwhile, the UK government issued a statement saying, “The UK’s world-leading higher education sector is set to bring a £50 million boost to the economy as part of a major expansion of British universities in India.”
Currently, there are 40 million students in India’s universities, but there is a need for 70 million places by 2035. The UK’s world-renowned higher education sector is taking advantage of that demand by giving thousands of Indian students the chance to study for a UK degree without leaving home – while boosting our economy by millions of pounds.
The statement said international education brought export revenues to the UK of more than £32 billion in 2022, of which almost £1 billion came from international campuses – demonstrating its strength as a growth market.
Furthermore, the UK government said that the UK is set to become the country with the largest higher education footprint in India, which will give a big boost to the UK’s reputation abroad.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the milestone at a meeting with UK chancellors in Mumbai on Thursday.
Starmer is on a two-day trade mission to strengthen ties with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and put money back into the pockets of hard-working British people.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Our great British universities are admired around the world for their teaching excellence, high-quality research and commitment to innovation.
“I am delighted that more Indian students will be able to benefit from a world-class British education in the near future – strengthening the ties between our two countries, bringing millions back into our economy and supporting jobs at home.”
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