According to data collected by the ministry of external affairs, the number of Indian students studying overseas was estimated to be 13,24,954 in 2022.

the number of Indian students studying in China, at 6,000, since many who returned home after the Covid-19 outbreak did not go back.

the number of foreign students studying in India was estimated to be 46,878 in 2022, according to the All-India Survey on Higher Education conducted by the Union ministry for human resources development

While most Indian students going overseas are concentrated in the United States, Canada, Australia and the UAE, most foreign students in India are nationals of Nepal and Afghanistan. Most foreign students studying in India are concentrated in four states: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi.

The numbers have dwindled with many Africans headed to China. In 2019, before Covid-19, over 80,000 African students were studying in China compared to 25,000 in India.

March 2025

Relation with SAARC Countries

2025-26 Demands for Grants of the Department of Higher Education, report

Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports urges the Union education ministry to raise the education expenditure to 6% of GDP, as recommended in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

4.12% in 2021 - 2022

The total education expenditure (Centre, states and UTs) stood at only 4.12 percent of GDP in 2021-22.

Bhutan - 7.47% & Maldives - 4.67%

The committee also notes that SAARC countries like Bhutan and Maldives are spending 7.47 percent and 4.67 percent of their GDP, respectively, in 2022.

Inconsistent expenditure

2014-15 - 4.07% 2015-16 - 4.2% ↑ 2016-17 - 4.24% ↑ 2017-18 - 3.87% ↓ 2018-19 - 3.9% ↓ 2019-20 - 4.04% ↑ 2020 - 2021 - 4.36% ↑ 2021 - 2022 - 4.12% ↓

No vice chancellors

As of December 2024, up to 10 central universities are being managed without regular Vice-Chancellors (VCs), due to the failure to appoint members nominated by the Hon’ble President in his capacity as the visitor of the university.

NEP 2020

NEP 2020 promises that leadership positions in HEIs (higher education institutes) will not remain vacant for extended periods (as is often the case) and that outgoing and incoming Vice-Chancellors will overlap for a period. Print