In line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has initiated several measures for the internationalization of the higher education system in India. In January 2023, UGC unveiled its draft regulations- Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutes in India) Regulations, 2023 for Foreign HEIs interested in setting up campuses in India. The new regulations aim at removing restrictions on the repatriation of funds for FHEIs and will also allow them to exercise autonomy regarding fee structure, faculty hiring and curriculum design. Up until now, most international collaborations of Foreign Universities with their local partners were restricted to twinning, joint degree/dual degree, faculty exchange, student exchange and research collaborations. The Draft Regulations, when introduced fully, will allow collaborations to reach maximum maturity of setting up Foreign University Branch Campuses in India. Foreign Universities ranked among the Top 500 Subject/Overall Rankings or which are reputed in their home country will be eligible to set up their branch campus. The application can be accessed from the University Grant Commission’s official website, which will notify the selected FHEIs.

Every year India sees a huge number of outbound students seeking education in foreign universities; the most popular courses among them being technical subjects such as engineering, computer science, business management and so on. Thus, the investment opportunity for FHEIs aiming to set up off-shore campuses in India is seemingly high in such popular Indian courses. This monograph presents a summary of the draft regulations and our attempt to analyze its implications for various stakeholders.