Five foreign universities awarded LOIs to set up campuses in Maharashtra's Educity

As five foreign universities were awarded Letters of Intent (LOIs) on Saturday to set up their campuses in Maharashtra's Educity — a 250-acre facility to come up near Navi Mumbai International Airport, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that world-class global education will now become available to Indian students in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The CM was speaking at the 'Mumbai Rising: Creating an International Education City' event at Hotel Taj. The LOIs were awarded to the five foreign universities in the presence of Union Education Minister Dharmedra Pradhan and officials from the University Grants Commission (UGC), which has drawn up regulatory policy for Foreign Higher Educational Institutions wanting to set up campuses in India.
Pradhan said nine foreign universities have already been given permission to set up campuses in various parts of the country. And six more are in the pipeline. 'While our criteria was that all these universities are among the top 500 global ranks, most of those approved are from among the top 100 global ranks. India is becoming a destination for education and all this is made possible due to the National Education Policy NEP 2020.'
Fadnavis highlighted the state government's plan to turn Mumbai into a global education hub with Educity, which will be a global education destination with infrastructure planned for 10 world-class universities. Fadnavis said five more foreign universities are to set up campuses in Educity, but their names are yet to be finalised.
He added, 'Biggest benefit of this is to many youngsters from India who are not able to accomplish their dream of studying abroad due to inaccessibility or unaffordability. But now that these universities are going to be in Mumbai, Indian students will be able to accomplish their dream of foreign education with a 23-30 per cent lower cost.'
Stating that this education hub aims to contribute to the growing economy of the country by providing a global workforce, Fadnavis also announced plans of setting up an innovation city in the same vicinity, which will be dedicated to encouraging the research ecosystem. 'Existence of these global universities near the innovation city will foster collaborations between academic research and industry innovations, creating the next generation of tech and other sector innovators,' he said.
Reiterating how world-class education will be affordable and accessible to Indian students with foreign universities setting up campuses in India, Pradhan said, 'The entry of foreign universities will accelerate India's progress in education and development.'
All these universities will enjoy full autonomy in deciding the curriculum, fees, programmes, course content, faculty recruitment among others. The affirmative reservations applicable in other higher education institutions in India will not be applicable to these universities. It will be up to the universities and their policies on whether they want to provide any scholarships.
📌 University of Aberdeen (UK): One of the oldest universities in the UK, it becomes the first Scottish university to establish a campus in India
📌 University of Western Australia (Australia): Part of Australia's prestigious Group of Eight (Go8), it will offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in high-demand STEM fields — science, engineering, and industrial sectors
📌 University of York (UK): A leading research-intensive institution and a member of the Russell Group. It will offer cutting-edge programs in Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, business, economics, and creative industries
📌 Illinois Institute of Technology (US): The first American university to independently award degrees from a campus in India. It will offer programs in computer science, engineering, and business
📌 Istituto Europeo di Design (Italy): One of Europe's premium design schools, it will offer globally benchmarked training in fashion, product design, and visual communication

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