Mumbai: The Maharashtra govt is exploring the development of an education hub (EduHub) to boost the internationalisation of state’s public universities including Mumbai, Savitribai Phule Pune, Nagpur and Shivaji University, Kolhapur. While the National Education Policy (NEP) has already paved the way for foreign universities to set up campuses in India, the state’s next focus will be on retaining Indian students and attracting international ones to its public universities through collaborations, joint centres (initially in their existing campuses) and academic partnerships.Based on a report submitted by a consulting firm, the govt is considering positioning state universities as potential destinations for international students. The aim of the internationalisation policy floated by the consulting firm is to ‘position state public universities in Maharashtra as globally reputed institutions and increase their competitiveness by strengthening their research ecosystem and fostering international collaborations’. The EduHub will be in addition to the proposed EduCity, which is being developed for international universities setting shops here. Five international universities have already received the letters of interest (LoIs) from the UGC to start campuses in EduCity. The report estimates that Maharashtra accounted for 12% of India’s total outbound student outflow in 2024. A govt representative said the idea for EduHub is still in its early stages and will take time to take shape. “In the long run, we aim not only to retain Indian students who currently go abroad for higher education, but also to attract international students to our university campuses.” An official said that initially the idea is to have international branch campuses within the campuses of state universities and then allowing them to go independent. No location has been identified yet, though vacant land along the Samruddhi Mahamarg is under consideration. Once the idea shapes up, the govt will incentivise utilities, he added.For the development of the education hub, the consulting firm in its report has recommended strengthening capacity, research orientation, and global linkages of state public universities. The focus areas as per the report is to enable world-class infrastructure by strengthening physical, digital and academic infrastructure. Among other focus areas are the enhancement of research and innovation in state universities, by facilitating access to funding, international collaborations, and industry partnerships, thereby positioning state universities at the forefront of knowledge creation; promoting academic collaborations and internationalisation through inter-university collaborations, joint/twining/dual degree programmes; developing support mechanism for international students, including a designated ‘Study in Maharashtra’ portal, language and cultural support to attract and retain international students and enhance the global diversity of the state’s campuses.
