India, Britain to ink deal on higher education

Updated on: Wednesday, July 28, 2010

India and the UK will be signing a 5 million pound-deal this week to collaborate in the field of education. A key part of British Prime Minister David Cameron's India visit, the collaboration facilitated through the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) will see the two nations joining hands to set up new institutes, drive in skill development programmes, hold leadership programmes and work on quality assurance of courses offered to students.

Marking a shift from the '60s and '80s when the UK was the bigger partner and largely funded the setting up of IITs, this time it will be a 50:50 collaboration. Both India and the UK would be pitching in 2.5 million pounds each after they sign the MoU on July 28. Indiaâ€™s share of Rs 17.5 crore will be funded by the University Grants Commission, sources confirmed.

Taking cognizance of the Foreign Universities Bill, now in Parliament, the UK is learnt to have included India's proposed Innovation Universities on its agenda and has formally expressed interest in development of such universities besides other new institutions.

India, Britain to ink deal on higher education

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