Easy availability of land will be an added attraction for foreign education institutions to set up campuses in SEZs. India has been considering allowing foreign universities to open their own campuses here and grant independent degrees since 2010. The commerce ministry has suggested to the HRD ministry that it should allow foreign universities in SEZs, said a commerce ministry official, one of the two people cited earlier. Photo: BloombergNew Delhi: The commerce and human resource development (HRD) ministries are in talks to allow foreign universities to open campuses within special economic zones (SEZs), a move that will allow them to skirt onerous restrictions placed on such institutions under Indian rules. Indian students spent $1.98 billion in education-related overseas expenditure in the year ended 31 March and $2.47 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to the central bank.

Source: Mint July 17, 2016 19:07 UTC