India’s Ministry of Education has issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to five globally renowned universities—University of York, University of Aberdeen, University of Western Australia, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Instituto Europeo Di Design (IED), Italy—to set up offshore branch campuses in Mumbai. The move is part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, aiming to establish Mumbai as a global education hub.
The LoIs were handed over in a formal event, Mumbai Rising: Creating an International Education City, attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Maharashtra Higher Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, Principal Secretary Aseem Gupta, and UGC Chairman Vineet Joshi. The announcement marks a major milestone in India’s efforts to internationalize its higher education sector.
Pradhan emphasized that India is shaping the global education ecosystem, not just participating in it, and that Mumbai is positioned to become a meeting ground for finance, technology, education, and research. He stated that India is co-creating ecosystems of innovation, entrepreneurship, and research rather than simply inviting foreign universities.
The universities, ranked among the top 500 in the QS World University Rankings, will offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business, economics, computer science, public health, data science, design, and other emerging fields. The University of Western Australia will establish two campuses, one in Mumbai/Navi Mumbai and another in Chennai.
Mumbai’s rise as a global education hub complements its position as an economic powerhouse, with Maharashtra contributing 13% to India’s GDP, leading in industrial output and foreign direct investment, and hosting 65% of India’s data center capacity.
Foreign dignitaries, including British High Commissioner Lindy Cameron, Australian Consul General Paul Murphy, US Consul General Mike Hankey, and Italian Consul General Walter Ferrara, praised India’s speed and commitment in implementing NEP 2020. They described education as a bridge between nations and expressed confidence in India’s academic credibility and regulatory framework.
NEP 2020 has now facilitated the approval of seven foreign universities, including previously cleared University of Southampton and University of Liverpool, and the operational campuses of Deakin University and University of Wollongong in GIFT City, Gujarat. The policy also encourages Indian institutions to expand abroad, with IIT Delhi launching a campus in Abu Dhabi, IIT Madras in Tanzania, and IIM Ahmedabad preparing to establish a presence in Dubai.
With Mumbai emerging as a global education capital, India continues its ambitious push to integrate with international academia, offering world-class education within its borders and positioning itself as a global knowledge hub.
