NITI Aayog on Monday released a policy report laying out a long-term roadmap to internationalise India’s higher education system, with the stated goal of turning the country into a global hub for education and research by 2047.
Titled Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations, the report aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and places emphasis on “internationalisation at home”.
The report was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery, Members V.K. Paul and Arvind Virmani, and CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, in the presence of Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi and AICTE Chairman T.G. Sitharam.
Prepared in collaboration with an IIT Madras-led consortium, the report examines internationalisation at global, national and institutional levels. It tracks trends in academic mobility over the past two decades and identifies opportunities to increase student and faculty exchanges, deepen international research collaboration, and set up foreign university campuses in India as well as Indian campuses abroad.
The study draws on a nationwide survey of 160 higher education institutions across 24 states, inputs from 140 national and international stakeholders at a workshop held at IIT Madras, and interviews with experts from 30 institutions across 16 countries.
Speaking at the launch, Bery said there was both a business and diplomatic case for promoting internationalisation, describing it as an important instrument of India’s soft power. Paul linked the recommendations to NEP implementation and India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, and said the country should aim to host one lakh international students in central and state universities by 2030.
Virmani highlighted the long-term academic and economic benefits of international students trained in India and stressed the need to strengthen doctoral programmes through global partnerships. Subrahmanyam said internationalisation could improve course quality, reduce foreign exchange outflow and expand research partnerships, while underlining the role of private universities, the Indian diaspora and regulatory ease.
Joshi said India’s ambition to emerge as a global education hub would require public and private institutions to work in tandem, noting that recent UGC regulations had helped attract nearly 13 international universities. Sitharam said India must position itself as a talent magnet, particularly for students from the Global South.
The report makes 22 policy recommendations, backed by 76 action pathways and 125 performance indicators, across five thematic areas — strategy, regulation, finance, branding and outreach, and curriculum and culture — aimed at accelerating the internationalisation of India’s higher education ecosystem.
