Australia's Deakin University will be the First Foreign Institution to build a Campus in India.

New Delhi: The Indian Express has discovered that Australia's Deakin University would be the first international institution to establish an autonomous campus in Gujarat's GIFT City. On March 8, an announcement will likely be made during Australian Prime Minister Anthony Norman Albanese's visit to Ahmedabad.

Deakin University is ranked 266th in the QS Global University Rankings and is one of the world's top 50 young institutions. The institution is between 250 and 300 in the Times Higher Education Global Rankings.

According to insiders, the University has already applied to the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), GIFT City's governing body, to establish a campus. Operations are anticipated to start next year. It intends to accept students first to postgraduate programs.

When contacted by email on Saturday by The Indian Express, Ravneet Pawha, CEO (South Asia) of Deakin University, declined to comment. Chairman of the IFSCA Injeti Srinivas could not be reached for comment.

The Australian campuses of Deakin University are located in Melbourne (Burwood), Geelong (Waurn Ponds and Waterfront), and Warrnambool. It welcomes students from 132 nations, with Indians constituting 27% of the student body and Chinese students 22%.

More than 26,000 students are enrolled in its Melbourne Burwood campus, which has a total enrollment of approximately 60,000.
Also see: Colleges in Australia

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman first announced in her Budget speech in February 2022 that world-class foreign universities and institutions would be permitted in GIFT City to offer courses in financial management, FinTech, Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics "free of domestic regulations". IFSCA officially solicited international college applications for the same position on Thursday. According to a government source, Deakin is one of many international universities in discussion with the GIFT City regulator.

Among them is the University of Wollongong (UOW), which according to the QS Global University Rankings, is 85th in the world and 10th in Australia. Archaeology, Chemistry, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Engineering & Technology, Geography, Law, Philosophy, and Statistics and Operational. Research is among the topics for which UOW is ranked within the top 150 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject.

By May 2023, according to a UOW spokeswoman, the University may have a few floors in GIFT City to begin courses. This week, UOW Vice Chancellor Patricia Davidson and Australian Education Minister Jason Clare will go to India to meet with Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to explore plans to establish a campus in GIFT City.

UOW will offer undergraduate finance, Science, and undergraduate business programs. According to sources, this may alter after the VC meets with Pradhan this week. UOW still needs to determine the fee structure. According to the source, the admissions requirements would be comparable to those of other Indian colleges.

The UOW spokeswoman informed The Indian Express that the University's decision to establish a campus in India was motivated by many Indian students registering at their Australian campus.

In 2023, Indian students comprise about a quarter of UOW's total foreign enrolment and are the most significant international cohort at the institution. The University of Wollongong enrols about 2,500 Indian students, with the most popular degrees in business, engineering, and information sciences. UOW has graduated more than 8,300 Indians.

Unlike Deakin University, UOW already has campuses in Dubai, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.

Introducing foreign colleges into India has been a contentious topic, with several governments attempting to create laws for their admittance, operation, and control. The first instance occurred in 1995, when a bill was presented but failed to advance.

In 2005-2006, the proposed bill could only reach the Cabinet level. UPA-II made the latest effort in 2010 with the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, which failed to pass Parliament and expired in 2014 due to opposition from the BJP, the Left, and the Samajwadi Party.

In July 2020, the NDA administration, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would formally commit to the admission of international institutions in the National Education Strategy document. The Finance Minister subsequently unveiled the GIFT City idea in February 2022.

In January of this year, the UGC said that it is creating guidelines for international educational institutions that want to establish campuses in India. Nevertheless, the UGC regulations will apply to all such prospective projects, except those in GIFT City, where only IFSCA rules would apply.

According to the IFSCA rules for GIFT City, the courses or programs provided by the campuses of foreign institutions in GIFT City "must be similar in all aspects" to the courses or programs offered by such universities at home.

According to the requirements, the degree, diploma, or certificate must also be similar. They should also "have the same status and recognition as if undertaken by the parent organisation in its native country." The laws also allow international institutions with campuses in GIFT City to repatriate revenues.

Also Read:

• JMI Hosts Team from University of Applied Science, Germany for Student Exchange Program
• OP Jindal University Signs MoU with University of Virginia to Promote Student Exchange Program

Subscribe to Collegedunia to get the latest educational news and updates –