Speaking at a British Council event in Delhi on January 29, Newcastle University’s vice-chancellor and president, Chris Day, revealed the university’s intention to set up a campus in India.
“One of the reasons that I’m here… is the idea that UK universities might be looking to set up campuses in-country. It almost seems that every day at the moment there’s another announcement,” said Day.
“It won’t surprise you to hear that Newcastle is seriously considering opening a campus here in India itself. We’re currently thinking about where that might be and who our partners might be,” he revealed.
“All I can say is, watch this space…. I am now leaving India absolutely convinced that we need to do this. The question is what kind of campus and what subjects and where it will be, rather than if we will have a campus in India.”
Earlier this week, the University of Surrey unveiled plans for its international branch campus located in GIFT City – India’s special economic zone in Gujarat, where institutions are free from the regulations that govern the rest of the country. The University of Coventry and Queen’s University Belfast are also expected to set up respective campuses there.
In August 2024, it was announced that the University of Southampton is set become the first UK university to be granted a licence by the Indian government to create a branch campus in the country, with plans to set up outside of the special economic zone, in Delhi.
Newcastle University already has campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. While speaking in Delhi, Day emphasised his commitment to “equitable partnerships”.
“These partnerships should be mutually beneficial between the home country and the international country rather than being a one way street,” said Day.
These partnerships should be mutually beneficial between the home country and the international country rather than being a one way street
Chris Day, Newcastle University
Over 500 Indian students enrolled at Newcastle University last year but the vice-chancellor emphasised “there is much more to our relationship with India than just how many international students come from India to to Newcastle”, using the university’s 25-year collaboration with the Institute of Technology in Delhi as an example.
Speaking exclusively to The PIE News at the QS India Summit in Goa days earlier, British high commissioner for India, Lindy Cameron, spoke of the “massive potential” of UK-India partnerships taking place in higher education.
“I think a lot of universities have understood how important India is in terms of students that have come to the UK, but the really exciting thing now is with the reforms in the Indian higher education sector, there is so much more potential for different kinds of partnerships,” she said.
There is a “long queue of education institutions” keen to follow in the footsteps of Southampton, but also increased interest in joint degrees in partnership with Indian universities, noted Cameron.
“[India] is a country of 1.4 billion people. It is already the fifth largest economy in the world. It will become third in the next few years and it has the potential to go bigger than that. It’s a young country, it’s a country that wants to get rich before it gets old and it’s a country where the higher education sector is absolutely critical to that growth,” said Cameron.
Elsewhere, Day announced ten full-fee scholarships for Indian students enrolling at Newcastle University in September 2025. Offered through the Newcastle-India Leadership and Innovation Scholarship, these awards support applicants from India pursuing a full-time, one-year master’s program in an eligible field.
Beyond this, the university is extending its Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Scholarships from six to thirty scholarships.
