Nine universities from UK to have campuses in India

UK universities Lancaster and Surrey received approval to open campuses in India, increasing the total to nine, enhancing educational ties and boosting the economy.

Published on: Oct 10, 2025, 04:56:10 IST

By Sanjay Maurya

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New Delhi: Lancaster University and the University of Surrey, two of the UK’s leading universities, received Letters of Intent (LoIs) from Indian authorities on Thursday to open campuses in Bangalore and GIFT City, Gujarat, respectively in Mumbai during the visit of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to India. With this, the total number of UK universities approved to establish campuses in India rose to nine—the highest ever for any foreign country.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, deliver a statement to the press at Raj Bhavan, in Mumbai. The PM is visiting India to promote the recently signed trade deal with the south Asian nation. (via REUTERS)

UK’s University of Southampton has started its academic activities in September 2025 with its inaugural cohort of 140 Indian students to its campus in Gurugram.

Higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) issued The University Grants Commission has also handed over Letters of Intent (LoI) for establishment of branch campuses of University of Liverpool, University of York, University of Aberdeen and University of Bristol in India.

These universities received LoIs under the UGC (Setting Up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023. According to UGC regulations, foreign universities intending to set up campuses in India must be ranked within the top 500 globally, either in QS overall or subject-specific rankings.

“Further, Queens University of Belfast and Coventry University have been authorised to open their branch campuses in GIFT City,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Thursday.

Universities set up in GIFT city are governed by ‘International Financial Services Centres Authority (setting up and operation of international branch campuses and offshore education centres) regulations, 2022’ notified by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) – a central regulator for financial products, services and institutions – based in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, the UK government in a statement said that UK’s world-leading higher education sector is set to bring in a £50 million boost to the economy as part of a major expansion of British universities in India.

“Currently, there are 40 million students at university in India, but 70 million places are needed by 2035. The UK’s world-renowned higher education sector is capitalising on that demand by giving thousands of Indian students the chance to study for a UK degree without leaving home – while bolstering our economy by millions of pounds,” it said.

UK PM Starmer said,” I am delighted that more Indian students will be able to benefit from a world-class British education in the near future - strengthening the ties between our two countries while pumping millions back into our economy and supporting jobs at home.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a post on X said, “It was also a delight to meet the Vice Chancellors of various UK universities. We will keep furthering educational and cultural linkages with the UK.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanjay Maurya
Sanjay Maurya is a Principal Correspondent with Hindustan Times, where he covers education, with a focus on school and higher education, competitive examinations, education policy and governance. Working as part of the National Bureau, he is based in New Delhi and reports on the Ministry of Education and covers various statutory bodies like UGC, AICTE and NCTE and autonomous bodies like CBSE and NCERT. His reporting also tracks the implementation of key government reforms and policies from school education to higher education including in IITs, NITs, IIMs, central and state universities, and their impact on students and educational institutions. His reporting on the irregularities and rushed implementation of CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluation of Class 12 board exams 2026, triggered administrative action, leading to the transfer of the board's two senior-most officials and the constitution of a committee to probe alleged irregularities in procurement process of the system. He joined Hindustan Times in December 2024. Prior to that, he had a three-year stint at Careers360, where he reported on school and higher education, entrance examinations, admissions, rankings and various education policies involving universities and professional education bodies. Over the years, Maurya has reported extensively on major developments in India's education sector, including the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, changes in school education, higher education regulation, and the evolution of entrance examinations such as NEET, JEE and CUET. He regularly produces data-driven and explanatory stories based on government documents, parliamentary proceedings, court records and official data. His focus remains on helping readers understand how education policies and institutional decisions affect millions of students, teachers and educational institutions across the country.Read More

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