About Quality, Governance, Internationalization
Academic Research and Internationalization promotes quality research within the Higher Education system. As India moves towards becoming a knowledge society and economy- keeping in view the requirements of the fourth industrial revolution, the higher education system must be re-energised, provide hands-on and practical learning experiences to students, and conduct academic research focused on addressing industrial and societal needs. India should be promoted as a global study destination that provides premium education at affordable costs and restore its role as a Viswa Guru. The establishment of the Research and Development Cell (RDC) in HEIs will enable the attainment of the targets of Atma-Nirbhar Bharat. Further, research collaboration, student exchanges, and programs between Indian institutions and global institutions will develop a culture of research and innovation in Indian HEIs to achieve global standards of quality. Activities that will be covered in this pillar are increasing presence of Indian institutes in Global rankings and accreditation.
To encourage culture of research & innovation in Indian HEIs and achieve global standards of quality, introduced regulations on Academic Collaboration between Indian & foreign HEIs; Setting up and operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India; Autonomous Status to colleges and guidelines for admission & supernumerary seats of international students in UG & PG in Indian HEIs.
To enhance academic collaboration with foreign HEIs leading towards academic and research excellence in the Indian HEIs, UGC released ‘Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions to offer Twinning, Joint Degree and Dual Degree Programmes Regulations’ on 02.05.2022. Out of 230 eligible Indian Universities, 103 HEIs are offering such programmes in collaboration with foreign HEIs.
Letter of Intents (LOIs) issued to Twelve Foreign Universities - University of Southampton (UoS), UK, to set-up Campuses in New Delhi; University of Liverpool, to set-up Campuses in Bengaluru; University of York, University of Aberdeen, University of Western Australia, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Instituto Europeo Di Design (IED), Italy to set-up Campuses in Mumbai; Victoria University (Australia) in Noida, Western Sydney University (Australia) in Greater Noida, and La Trobe University (Australia) in Bengaluru and University of Bristol (United Kingdom) in Mumbai.
Additionally, University of New South Wales, Australia Bengaluru campus has been approved for granting of LoI.
Deakin University and University of Wollongong have entered India through GIFT City, Gandhinagar. Also, Coventry University and Queen’s University Belfast, both from the UK, have recently been granted permission to establish their branch campuses in GIFT City.
To improve the quality, Universities and HEIs are coming forward for accreditation and currently around 487 Universities and 7554 HEIs across the country are accredited. Further for enhancing quality, in accordance with NEP 2020, implementation of binary accreditation is underway. Deptt. of Higher Education is working on transition from the present 8-point grading system of NAAC to the Binary Accreditation system.
In the NIRF Rankings 2025, India has come a long way since the maiden edition in 2016, which began with just one category and three subject domains—Universities, Engineering, Management, and Pharmacy. Over time, the framework has expanded to 9 categories and 8 subject domains by 2025. This year, a total of 14,163 applications were received from 7,692 unique institutions, including 4,045 in the Overall Category, 1,584 in Engineering, and 4,030 in General Degree Colleges.
India’s global presence in higher education rankings has also strengthened. The number of Indian universities/HEIs featured in the QS World University Rankings rose from 11 in 2015 to 54 in 2026. In the QS Subject Rankings 2025, 79 Indian HEIs were included, up from 69 in the previous year, reflecting a 14% growth. Overall, Indian institutions accounted for 533 entries, marking a 25.7% increase over the previous edition’s 424 entries. Notably, 10 Indian HEIs secured positions in the top 50 globally across various subjects, including 6 IITs, 2 IIMs, one Central University, and one Deemed University.
Similarly, in the Times Higher Education Rankings, the number of Indian universities represented has more than doubled from 49 in 2019 to 133 in 2025. Furthermore, 6 IIMs and 2 other institutions featured in the top 100 of the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2025, reinforcing India’s growing stature in global higher education.
Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) setup under ANRF Act 2023 under Deptt. of Science & Technology to propel Bharat towards scientific & technology leadership and stimulating latent potential of Univ. & Colleges.
One Nation One Subscription - To promote core as well as interdisciplinary research. Provide access to around 13000 e-journals from 30 major international journals to 6300+ govt. HEIs benefitting more than 1.8 Cr. students, faculty, and researchers. Article Processing Charges (APC) for publishing in these scholarly journals will also be supported to the tune of ₹ 150 crore per year. Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre, Gandhinagar, an Autonomous IUC (Inter-University Centre) of UGC has been designated as the implementing agency for ONOS. As per the information received from different publishers, during January-May 2025, nearly 4.5 crore journal articles have been downloaded by the HEIs using ONOS.
Filing of patents increased by more than 115% in since 2014-15, 92,168 in 2023-24 from 42,763 in 2014 (IPO Annual Reports)
Indian institutions are rapidly expanding their global footprint while also strengthening their appeal to international students. IIT Madras launched its Zanzibar campus in Tanzania following an MoU signed on 5th July 2023 between the Indian and Tanzanian education ministries, and classes have already commenced. Similarly, IIT Delhi began operations at its Abu Dhabi campus, established through an MoU signed on 15th July 2023 with the UAE’s ADEK and the Ministry of Education, Government of India. Additionally, IIM Ahmedabad signed an MoU with the UAE Government to set up the IIM-A Dubai Campus at Dubai International Academic City, which will offer both full-time MBA and executive education programmes.
To systematically foster the culture of innovation and start-up ecosystem in education institutions, 16,367 Institutions’ Innovation Councils have been set up in 28 States & 8 UTs and around 400+ HEIs are funded for Idea Development, Evaluation and Application (IDEA) Labs. In the Union Budget 2025-26, an allocation of ₹20,000 crore has been made to promote private sector-driven Research, Development, and Innovation. Further, under the PM Research Fellowship Scheme, provision has been made for 10,000 fellowships over the next five years to support advanced technological research in IITs and IISc, with enhanced financial assistance for researchers.
