The campus is due to welcome its first students early next year, offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs in business and technology in Southern India’s booming high-tech hub.
The deal was made public this week to coincide with the Indian Prime Minister’s trip to Australia, with Finders University receiving a Letter of Intent from India’s University Grants Commission. It coincides with a high-level meeting among key stakeholders in Australia’s international education sector – including nine Universities Australia vice-chancellors and deputy vice-chancellors.
Modi is visiting Australia for the third Australia–India annual summit in Melbourne, with Albanese underscoring that Indian students are “welcomed and valued members” of Australian campuses and communities. It follows a surge in Australian institutions announcing overseas campuses in India.
“Australian university campuses in India are a cornerstone of our education partnership, driving innovation, skills development and economic growth in both countries,” said Albanese.
Stakeholders have hailed the resurgence of bilateral relations between Australia and India in the wake of the new campus being announced.
Flinders University vice-chancellor Colin Stirling hailed the Bengaluru campus as a “landmark moment” for the institution and “an exciting step in our international journey”.
“With visa approvals so low, the only bright light of our bilateral education relationship is offshore delivery,” said CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), Phil Honeywood, who attended the meeting with Prime Minister Modi.
With visa approvals so low, the only bright light of our bilateral education relationship is offshore delivery
Phil Honeywood, IEAA
Honeywood noted that TNE opportunities hold a particular attraction for Australian institutions against the backdrop of the country’s renewed National Planning Level.
“Of course, the added attraction for our universities is an exemption from their enrolment limit for any student who completes a percentage of their Australian qualification in India and then comes to finish their course in Australia,” he told The PIE News.
India is the second-largest source market of international students in Australia, with over 140,000 Indan students studying at Australian institutions in 2025.
“Students will graduate with the same high-quality education, academic standards and industry focus that define a Flinders degree in Australia, while building the global perspective and professional networks that employers increasingly value,” said Stirling.
He added that this is what marked out a “fearless university – not waiting for opportunity to come to us, but going out and creating it, wherever in the world that takes us”.
And he impressed the importance of creating “enduring partnerships” between Australian and Indian academia and industry.
The deal represents the latest Australian TNE venture in India, with Victoria University (VU) securing approval to begin teaching at its campus in Delhi – one of eight Australian institutions opening campuses in India.
VU vice-chancellor and president Adam Shoemaker said the university was “deeply grateful for this opportunity”, which he said came about through “an extraordinary process of collaboration and diplomacy between Australia and India”.
“There are already thousands of VU students, alumni and staff who have deep connections with India,” he added. “I can only see this collaboration and impact growing — in education, in industry relations and partnerships, in joint research, in employment pathways – and that is a great thing.”
India has become a TNE hotspot for Western international education powerhouses in recent years, with UK and Australian institutions leading the way in setting up overseas campuses in the country.
Education minister Jason Clare noted education as an “important bridge” between the two countries.
“It’s not a one way street. It’s not just about Indian students studying in Australia. It’s increasingly about Australian universities taking the best of Australian education to India,” he said.
“This is bringing a world-class Australian education closer to home for more young Indians and creating new opportunities for our researchers to work together.”
Modi is due to visit New Zealand later this week after India signed a free trade agreement with the Australasian country in the Spring. It comes as Waikato University unveiled plans to open an offshore campus in India earlier this week.
