According to Shashank Shah, director (senior specialist – Viksit Bharat Perspective Planning & Visioning) at NITI Aayog, while 96% of India’s students study domestically, for every one student coming into India for higher education, 28 go overseas — a relatively small share of total enrolments but one with significant financial implications.
“Under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), foreign exchange outflows for higher education have increased by nearly 2,000% over the past decade,” Shashank said, addressing the audience.
“Today, Indian students’ overseas tuition and living expenses amount to almost Rs 6.3 trillion – roughly 2% of India’s GDP.”
While study abroad remittances from India fell to their lowest level in eight years between April and August 2025 — typically the peak period for such transactions — the overall overseas spend still runs into the trillions of rupees (around £50bn). This aligns with estimates from Gradding, which suggested that Indian students studying abroad could spend up to $70bn by 2025.
Moreover, despite the government-backed think tank’s cautious tone on the economic ramifications of large volumes of student spending overseas, the Union Budget announced last week has in fact made it easier for students and their families to send money abroad.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed reducing the tax collection at source (TCS) rate to 2% on education-related remittances exceeding Rs 10 lakh (over £8,000) under the LRS.
With India’s higher education system currently serving 45 million students, its gross enrolment ratio (GER) projected to rise to 50% by 2035, and ambitions to host 1.1 million international students by 2047, even a modest 1% international student uplift could translate into around 800,000 more students, underscoring why NITI Aayog has backed “internationalisation at home” as both a financial imperative and a core pillar of its five priority areas for higher education reform.
“We have given 22 recommendations across five areas – strategy, regulation, finance, branding, communication and outreach, and campus and culture – supported by 76 action points and 125 performance indicators. It is a comprehensive roadmap,” said Shah, referring to the recent NITI Aayog report, which laid bare both the opportunities and challenges in positioning India as a global higher education hub.
According to the report, recommendations on the regulatory front include creating a one-stop shop for international students, easing student mobility, simplifying visa processes, and facilitating the setting up of campuses in India.
On financing and outreach, proposals include a flagship Vishwa Bandhu scholarship and fellowship program, a proposed $10m sovereign wealth fund supported by alumni, philanthropists and the Indian government, the creation of an Indian alumni ambassador network, greater engagement with the 30 million-strong Indian diaspora, and the launch of a flagship higher education research conference in India.
“On campus and culture, we have recommended that Indian campuses become more world-class not only in infrastructure, but also in creating a welcoming culture,” stated Shah.
“Pedagogy should ensure students are world-ready – not only for jobs in India, but globally – while integrating Indian knowledge systems with world-class approaches to offer students the best of both worlds.”
With the UK leading on branch campuses in India, and its international education strategy (IES) naming India a priority for transnational education, Alison Barrett, director, British Council India highlighted efforts to enable more British students to study in India, in line with NITI Aayog’s goals.
“We have launched the UK–India Vision 2035, which commits both countries to a series of priority objectives. This year, we will be launching, for the very first time, the UK–India Education Ministerial Dialogue,” stated Barrett.
“We are absolutely committed to ensuring we can create more opportunities for British students to come to India to study and to help achieve that 800,000 target Shashank mentioned.”
We are no longer aiming only to create job seekers. We are working… to build strong research and innovation ecosystems and focus on creating job creators
Armstromg Pame, Ministry of Education (India)
Speaking on the same policy panel, Armstrong Pame, joint secretary in India’s Ministry of Education, said the National Education Policy (NEP) is now “focusing not only on innovation and skills, but on redefining our priorities” – a shift that aligns with the next phase of higher education internationalisation through stronger vocational and skills pathways.
“From the next financial year, the government will roll out the multidisciplinary education and research improvement in technical education (MERITE) program, identifying over 250 government polytechnics nationwide and aligning them with global skill and innovation requirements,” said Pame, who added that he also held discussions with Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad (IIT-Hyderabad) on sending a significant cohort of students for semiconductor training in Taiwan.
“We are no longer aiming only to create job seekers. We are working across the higher education ecosystem – including IITs, NITs and IIITs – to build strong research and innovation ecosystems and focus on creating job creators.”
