The new agreement will offer exchanges of up to six months across business and hospitality subjects and provide vocational and practical training for both Indian students in the UK and British students in India.

The partnership has also been described by British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as “valuable” after he attended the signing itself in Delhi as part of a three-day visit to India at the end of August.

“We believe India is going to be become the ‘new China’ for young people to gain a cultural exchange and experience”

“We believe India is going to be become the ‘new China’ for young people to gain a cultural exchange and experience,” GEM Director Frederick Young told The PIE News.

“GEM’s work with Amity leads the foundation for bi-lateral cultural exchanges which are very much the objectives of the British and Indian governments,” he added.

GEM has worked closely with UKTI and has already partnered with 15 other Indian colleges and universities, yet Young has described the official partnership with Amity as a “significant step”, namely owing to its prestige as the first private university in India, its rapid growth, and its vocational focus.

Looking forward Young expects inbound Indian numbers of around 100 for year one, and even more growth in future.

Earlier this year, the British Council released a report urging educators to act now in order to meet India’s tremendous demand for education.

“Half of India’s 1.2bn population is under 25 years of age, there is a huge opportunity for UK education firms to assist with the development of the country. Central to this is skills development and training,” confirmed Young.

During the trip last month GEM also signed MOUs with the North Indian Chandigarh Group of Colleges and engineering college AISSMS Pune.

Clegg also announced the establishment of funding for 25,000 British graduates to come on exchange programmes in India.

Headquartered in Slough, GEM was established in 2005 to help assist students in gaining international cultural experiences to better equip them for studies and career prospects. It currently works with institutions in Thailand, UAE, Maldives, Singapore, China, India, Russia, Switzerland, France, Spain, South America and the USA.