Foreign universities and institutions that establish educational campuses in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) will be permitted to “repatriate profit” to their parent entity in another country “without any restrictions.” Typically, this profit is generated from student fees and other sources. Moving money outside of India has not been permitted up to this point.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), a central regulator for financial products, services, and institutions based in Gujarat, has provided the union government with its first policy enabling foreign universities to open offices in India.
The “International Financial Services Centres Authority (Setting up and Operation of International Branch Campuses and Offshore Education Centers) Regulations, 2022” were announced by the IFSCA, a governmental authority, on Wednesday. These will provide the rules for the construction of offshore educational centres (OEC) and international branch campuses (IBC) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s GIFT City-International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC). With it, IFSCA hopes to transform the GIFT IFSC into an international educational hub for students from India and beyond in particular academic fields. The University Grants Commission (UGC), the principal regulator of higher education, is developing its own rules.
IFSCA’s regulations give foreign universities and institutes many relaxations in addition to permitting them to transfer money collected from Indian students to their parent countries, which is a drastic change from the previous position. The schools will be free to enact their own rules regarding tuition, admissions, and faculty hiring. For Indian colleges, the selection of professors is governed, however many public universities no longer have discretion over admissions decisions.
Foreign university conditions
A few requirements have been specified by the IFSCA for foreign institutions considering the initiative. The top 500 global overall and/or topic rankings in the most recent QS World Universities ranking are required for those wishing to create IBCs. The university must be a “reputed institution” in its own country in order to qualify for OECs. The notification states that the courses they provide must have “the same recognition and status as if they were conducted by the parent company in its home country.” The financial resources and appropriate infrastructure and facilities are required for foreign universities and educational institutions to establish and manage their GIFT IFSC activities.
The GIFT IFSC and IFSCA shall have the right to inspect the IBC or OEC for quality and suitability of infrastructure. These educational campuses are not permitted to advertise their programmes outside of GIFT. The regulations provide that the “parent entity” must offer alternatives to impacted students and that the institutions must obtain the “previous written approval of the authority” (IFSCA) before discontinuing any programme. These campuses will only be built in Gandhinagar’s Gift City or GIFT IFSC. Assume you are granted a two-year work visa in London if you decide to study some international studies there. The same amenities or benefits are available to you if you seek further education at GIFT IFSC, according to IFSCA chairman Injeti Srinivas.
Regulation violations may result in suspension, termination of registration, and/or the application of fines. Registration will be available for five years, although it can be extended. The IFSCA will levie a variety of fees from the colleges while permitting them to export “earnings” from India. IBCs and OECs are responsible for paying the IFSCA Application Charge, which consists of the following amounts: USD 1,000 for the initial application fee; USD 25,000 for the initial registration fee; USD 10,000 for processing applications for relaxation; and USD 10,000 overall. Using the currency rates from October 14, $10,000 became Rs 8.2 lakh annually.
GIFT-IFSC and Indian regulators
Neither the University Grants Commission (UGC) nor the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), among other Indian higher education regulatory agencies, have any provisions requiring foreign universities to abide by their rules as part of the IFSCA standards. Additionally, it is unclear if these academic institutions will be forced to abide by Indian rules prohibiting sexual harassment or for the protection of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and students with disabilities. It’s also unclear whether the ragging policies of the UGC will be enforced. M. Jagadesh Kumar, the chairperson of the UGC, was emailed questions, but as of the time of publication, he had not replied.
If and when he does, this copy will be updated. Mriganka Sekhar Sarma, the deputy secretary of the UGC, stated that “the regulations on the campuses of foreign universities are still to be declared” before pointing the media to the chairman. Additionally, even though the GIFT-IFSC standards specifically permit a profit, education in privately run institutions is seen as a non-profit endeavour in India. Most recently, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reaffirmed this position.
Subjects and courses
Courses and research programmes in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will be offered by the foreign universities that establish campuses in GIFT City or the GIFT IFSC. In order to “supply high-end human resources in finance, technology, and allied disciplines,” the IFSCA laws seek to promote research in banking, insurance, capital markets, funds management, finTech, longevity finance, sustainable finance, and quantum computing. If “the same is needed due to the modification effected in the course offered by the parent body,” international universities and institutions may modify their approved curricula after first notifying IFSCA.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared during her speech on the Union Budget 2022 that “world-class foreign universities and institutes” delivering courses in GIFT City will be “free from domestic laws.” IFSCA requested feedback on the regulations from the general public on June 30, 2022. IFSCA members created the regulations on their own; no committee was established for their creation, according to Srinivas.
