– Mr. Sanjay Laul, Founder at Laul Global
For decades, the traffic in global higher education moved in one direction. Indian students went abroad. Foreign universities stayed home and welcomed them. That arrangement is now being rewritten, and the numbers explain why.
As of mid-2026, three foreign universities are already teaching students on Indian soil: Deakin University and the University of Wollongong at GIFT City in Gujarat, and the University of Southampton in Gurugram, which opened in 2025 as the first campus under the University Grants Commission’s new framework. Behind them stands a queue. Approximately 18 to 19 international universities have received regulatory clearance from the UGC or GIFT city regulator with nearly 9 campuses expected to be opened in the year 2026 including the University of Liverpool and UNSW Sydney in Bengaluru, as well as the University of Bristol, University of York, and University of Aberdeen in Mumbai. Illinois Institute of Technology is set to become the first American University with an autonomous degree awarding campus to be opened in Mumbai.
So what changed? Four things, and each one is measurable.
The demand is simply too large to ignore
With India roughly having 155 million young people, close to 160 million by 2030, makes it one of the world’s largest pools of higher education aspirants. The country’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is at just 29% with roughly 45 million students pursuing higher studies. To reach the government’s target of GER being 50% by 2035, India is supposed to expand its market in seats of higher education. India’s existing opportunities would alone not be able to stand the demand, instead it asks for a collaborative approach with opening the door for international universities. For universities abroad, that gap is not a problem. It is a market.
The money confirms it. Indian students overseas currently spend around Rs 6.3 trillion a year on tuition and living costs, roughly 2 per cent of India’s GDP, according to NITI Aayog. A Deloitte-Knight Frank study estimates that foreign campuses in India could save the country up to USD 113 billion in foreign exchange. Universities that set up locally get to serve that demand at Indian price points, typically 25 to 40 per cent below what the same degree costs at their home campus.
The door finally opened
Demand alone was never enough. The UGC’s 2023 regulations brought a major shift, allowing the top 500 ranked global recognized institutions to establish independent campuses with the authority to award degrees, academic flexibility and regulatory approvals valid for 10 years. GIFT City had opened a separate route slightly earlier. The National Education Policy 2020 smoothened the process of approval pipelines by launching the UK Education Hub in New Delhi in February 2026 offering political support and initiatives. Policy, in short, caught up with demand.
Their home markets are shrinking
The push factor matters as much as the pull. The traditional Big Four destinations are all tightening. In 2024, The UK tightened its student immigration policy preventing dependents for most taught postgraduate students. It is set to shorten the Graduate Route work visa from 24 months to 18 months by 2027. Canada slashed study permits. The result: the number of Indian students going abroad fell 31 per cent between 2023 and 2025, from about 908,000 departures to 626,000, according to Bureau of Immigration data presented in Parliament. Universities that built budgets on international fees now face a choice: watch that revenue disappear, or follow the students home. The UK’s new International Education Strategy, published in January 2026, made the choice explicit by dropping inbound student targets and aiming instead to grow education exports to GBP 40 billion by 2030, with overseas campuses at the centre.
India is now a strategic bet, not just a recruitment pool
There is also a longer game. Campuses in Gurugram, Bengaluru, and Mumbai put universities inside India’s technology and finance ecosystems, close to research partners, employers, and the graduates global companies want to hire. It is no accident that early courses cluster around computer science, AI, cybersecurity, data science, business, and fintech.
A dose of realism
The honest caveat: the start has been modest. The three operational campuses together enrolled fewer than 250 students in their first year. Regulatory approval is not the same as student demand, and history is littered with branch campuses that closed. Indian families will judge these campuses on placements, faculty quality, and whether the degree carries the same weight as one earned abroad. Fees that undercut London still run three to five times the cost of comparable Indian institutions.
But the direction is unmistakable. Analysts expect around fifteen operational foreign campuses by end-2026 and more than thirty by 2030. Ten years ago, the question was whether India would ever let foreign universities in. Today the question is how many will come, and how fast. The traffic, at last, is moving both ways.