Southampton to be the first foreign university in India; to establish campus in Gurgaon

The UK's University of Southampton will establish an offshore campus in Gurgaon, India, as part of the National Education Policy 2020. Scheduled to begin classes in July, the campus will provide degrees equivalent to those awarded in the UK, offering courses in business, computing, law, engineering, and more.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar handed over the 'letter of intent' to university representatives at an event. NEW DELHI: The UK's University of Southampton has become the first foreign university to set up its offshore campus in India as part of University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations under the new National Education Policy 2020 . Ranked among the top 100 higher educational institutions globally, the university will set up its campus in Gurgaon and the first academic session is likely to start in July.

The degrees awarded by the India campus of the University of Southampton will be the same as in the host university. UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar said the university will offer courses in subjects focusing on business and management, computing, law, engineering, art and design, biosciences and life sciences. In 2023, UGC had announced 'Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India Regulations' under NE.

"This will be the first foreign university to be issued 'letter of intent' under UGC regulations for setting up of Indian campuses of foreign universities," the education ministry said. External affairs minister S Jaishankar handed over the 'letter of intent' to university representatives at an event here. Australia's Deakin University was the first foreign university to open an international campus in Gift City, Gandhinagar.

Subsequently, University of Wollongong also started offering its master's programmes in Gift City; it will start graduate courses from 2025. However, these universities are not governed by UGC norms. Jaishankar said the development "reflects both the vision of elevating India's educational standards to the highest global levels and delivering on the education pillar of India-UK cooperation ".

Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the initiative was a step forward towards realising the goal of "internationalisation at home" as envisioned in NE. "Glad that more and more globally-renowned HEIs (higher education institutions) are evincing keen interest for multi-faceted collaborations with top Indian institutions as well as for tapping the potential of India as a global education and talent hub of the future," he said on X..