Following Australia, two universities from the United Kingdom — Queen’s University Belfast and Coventry University — have filed applications to set up their respective international campuses at GIFT city in Gujarat.

“Earlier this week, we gave approval to Queen’s University Belfast to set up their campus in GIFT City. This will be the third foreign university to set up a base here. They have big plans and have proposed to start with 800 students,” K Rajaraman, Chairperson of International Financial Services Authority (IFSCA), told businessline. 

Based in Northern Ireland, Queen’s is almost 200-year old and is ranked in the top-200 in the world for impact and sustainability. As a member of the Russell Group, Queen’s is one of UK’s 24 leading research-intensive universities. “The Queen’s University Belfast will start by offering masters’ programme. It also have a plan to set up its research arm and also may offer undergraduate programmes,” another official said. Of the 24,000-odd students currently studying in Queen’s, over 1000 are from India.

Coventry’s campus

The second UK university that has proposed to set up a campus in GIFT City is Coventry University which was established in 1843 and has more than 13,000 international students from 160 countries. This University already has branch campuses in Egypt, Poland, Morocco and Kazakhstan. The university had launched its “India Hub” at Delhi in March 2024 which collaborates with the Indian government, academia and industry to tackle global challenges such as climate change, economic development and health issues.

The IFSCA unveiled its International Branch Campus Regulations in October 2022, permitting India-branch campuses of foreign universities to repatriate funds in a relaxed regulatory environment. As per the IFSCA regulations, all transactions undertaken by the universities will occur in freely convertible foreign currency and the infrastructure conditions which are applicable to other India-based universities will not be enforced within GIFT City. These foreign entities have been permitted to offer courses that include research programmes in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Two Australian universities have already started their international campus in GIFT City. In January 2024, Deakin University became the first foreign university in India to open an international campus at GIFT City. In July, it welcomed the first batch of 45 students for a masters course in business analytics and cyber crime. The students are from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru. In November 2024, University of Wollongong (UOW) became the second Australian University to open a similar campus. UOW is offering courses in Master of Financial Technology.

Foreign university norms

Foreign universities are granted GIFT IFSC registration for a period of five years. This can be renewed for an additional period of five years. Those universities that have secured a position within top-500 in global overall ranking or subject ranking in latest QS World Universities ranking can only apply for setting up a campus in GIFT City. Institutions that are “reputed” in its home jurisdiction are also eligible to set up a campus in GIFT City.