IIT-Massachusetts could be a reality soon

The plan to internationalise Indian higher education institutes by allowing them to set up campuses abroad could see the United States as the first destination, with President Joe Biden having indicated a willingness to expand the education system.

One of the proposals in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, was allowing Indian educational institutes (Institutes of Eminence or IoE) to set up campuses abroad.

Here, the Education Ministry has sought international campus plans from the IoEs, including Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Indian Institute of Science (IIsc) Bangalore, Jadavpur University Kolkata, IIT Bombay and IIT Madras.

There are 16 IoEs including those named above, along with IIT Madras, Delhi University, Vellore Institute of Technology, Shiv Nadar University and Banaras Hindu University and others.

Sources said that while the United States was chosen as a destination to expand campuses, it was felt that the former US government under Donald Trump would not agree to the proposal.

"President Joe Biden is more receptive to expansion of the higher education sector in the US and in fact has also stated that education is on the top agenda under his government. Hence, the US is being reconsidered as a priority destination," said the director of an IoE.