The Bombay Club 2.0: How valid are misgivings about branch campuses?

As delegates reflect on the vast array of speakers and insights at The PIE Live India last week, they will be left in no doubt that the country is at a watershed moment in its history.

The scale of opportunity in India is astounding by any measure; 1.4 billion people, set to be the third largest economy in the world, with more graduates than the entire populations of most developed nations.  

The sheer number of international vice-chancellors touring the country illustrates the length of the queue at the University Grants Commission’s door. We are told the backlog for campus licence approvals grows daily.

This is an era when you might bump into ASU president Michael Crow in the hotel elevator, or King’s College London vice-chancellor Shitij Kapur at a PIE Live conference.

Just five years on from the New Education Policy (NEP) announcement, the rapid proliferation of global university brands in India is ramping up.

The mixed-use GIFT City campus continues to recruit new resident universities, while large-scale campus investments like the University of Southampton’s Delhi outpost will open in August 2025, and the University of Western Australia is rumoured to be seeking planning permission in Mumbai.

The vision of ‘internationalisation at home’ is about to become a permanent reality. But will these new entrants improve Indian higher education?

Over 70% of the Indian higher education sector is already privatised, and while demand greatly outstrips supply for seats, universities have good reason to be concerned about the competition.

While foreign investment might build capacity, it deepens the divide in terms of fees, perceived quality and international appeal at a time when the reputation of Indian universities is starting to grow on the international stage.

Just as the Bombay Club was wary of foreign investment in sectors like banking and manufacturing in the 90s, fearing rapid globalisation would put them at a disadvantage, Indian vice-chancellors are now feeling uneasy about the assumption that international branch campuses are somehow an improvement on what they are already offering.

These branch campuses are not always the equitable partnerships they were promised. Instead, they are being framed as a gateway to India becoming a major study destination.

Study In India has an ambition to attract half a million international students a year by 2047 – and high-ranking international university brands are a big pull factor.

How long will it be before we report on a major Indian campus opening at the heart of London or Sydney?

History tells us that some of the Bombay Club’s concerns were partly justified. Indian businesses had to adapt to the new global economic environment created by Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, with some major casualties as a result.

Coca-Cola replaced domestic soft drink brands like Campa Cola, while automotive brands like Hindustan Motors (Ambassador cars) and Premier Automobiles (makers of Premier Padmini) failed to modernise and faded away.

Ironically, however, some of the founding members of the Bombay Club actually benefitted from new competition, with internationalisation changing their focus from domestic to global opportunities.

Examples include Tata Motors, which acquired Jaguar Land Rover and became an international brand, and Infosys and Wipro, which pioneered global IT operations in India and kickstarted a tech revolution.

Atul Kholsa, vice chancellor of Shoolini University – one of India’s highest ranked institutions – reminded last week’s PIE Live audience that economic nationalism could only take India so far, and that a global mindset was essential for a better future.

His message to international counterparts, however, was clear: internationalisation is a positive thing, but it needs to be reciprocal.

This is not colonialism through education; this is an era of global alliance

India is not prepared to be a commodity for the global industry to exploit, and it has the economic muscle to ensure a different outcome.

Just as Indian vice-chancellors have welcomed international branch campuses to their shores, they expect the favour to be returned one day in the future. This is not colonialism through education; this is an era of global alliance.

As The PIE reports on branch campuses opening in Mumbai and Dehli today, how long will it be before we report on a major Indian campus opening at the heart of London or Sydney?

With top-100 western universities floundering financially at home, perhaps branch campuses lay the foundation for Indian acquisitions in the future, as power shifts to an Asian-centred world.

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