NEW DELHI: The United Kingdom’s University of Liverpool on Monday received formal approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to open its Indian campus in Bengaluru, the second foreign university to receive approval after the University of Southampton.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan handed over the Letter of Intent (LoI) to set up a campus in India under the UGC (Setting Up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023.
It is scheduled to accept students to its inaugural cohort of undergraduate and postgraduate students in August 2026. The university will initially offer programmes in business management, accounting and finance, computer science, and biomedical sciences and game design.
Speaking at an event in New Delhi to formally hand over LoI, Pradhan said this LoI reaffirms India’s emergence as a trusted partner in global higher education as envisioned under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Pradhan said that the University of Liverpool is the fourth foreign university to publicly announce its presence in India.
Two Australian University -- Deakin University and University of Wollongong -- have started their academic programmes at their Indian campuses in GIFT City of Gandhinagar, Gujarat. These two universities do not come under UGC regulations but 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.
{{/usCountry}}Two Australian University -- Deakin University and University of Wollongong -- have started their academic programmes at their Indian campuses in GIFT City of Gandhinagar, Gujarat. These two universities do not come under UGC regulations but 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.
{{/usCountry}}UK’s University of Southampton which became the first foreign university to receive UGC approval for setting up campus in India in August last year under the 2023 regulations, is set to commence operations at its Indian campus in Gurugram’s Sector 29 in August this year.
“This is just the beginning. By this academic year, 15 foreign universities will be coming to India and offering courses, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medical (STEM) and business administration,” Pradhan said.
Speaking to reporterafter the event, Pradhan said that after receiving approvals from UGC, the foreign universities will be setting up their campuses in Lucknow, Gurugram, Greater Noida, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru.
As per UGC regulations, foreign universities intending to set up campuses in India must be ranked within the top 500 globally, either in overall or subject-specific rankings. In the QS World University Rankings 2025, the University of Liverpool holds the 165th position globally, thereby meeting the eligibility criteria.
Professor Tim Jones, vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, said that the varsity decided to set up its campus in Bengaluru due to its partnerships and collaborations with various institutes located in Bengaluru.
“For 20 years, we have been working on various joint research projects with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru. Recently, we started collaborations with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. We closely work with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in Liverpool, but now increasingly in Bengaluru. So, it is a very natural location for the university to establish a campus there,” he said.