Coventry among India branch campus contenders

UK universities have confirmed plans to expand their profile in India, with new branch campuses on the horizon.

Earlier this month the India Week Education Innovation Conference heard that UK higher education institutions were set to announce plans for branch campuses in India imminently, subject to the conclusion of negotiations.

Coventry University, which already has branch or “branded” campuses in Egypt, Poland and Morocco and is exploring opening another in Kazakhstan, confirmed that it was in “active discussions with stakeholders with a view to opening up new opportunities in [India], including the potential for a campus”.

“We see India as a key strategic market for further collaboration,” a university spokesperson said. “We firmly believe that this collaborative international approach brings amazing benefits to students in Coventry and the countries in which we operate, helping to share best research practices and ideas.”

Coventry opened a “global hub” in Delhi earlier this year to support the development of new collaborations in the region. 

Among British universities, Coventry was the second largest recruiter of Indian students in 2021-22, with upwards of 5,000 enrolled. It also has approximately 45 transnational education (TNE) partners globally, delivering courses to more than 22,000 students via these programmes. 

In the university’s 2022-23 annual report, Coventry said its “transnational portfolio is expanding, with a focus on larger TNE partnerships, particularly in the form of branded campuses”. 

The university goes on to say that its campus in Egypt, known as The Knowledge Hub, has recruited more than 1,700 students to its New Cairo site since September 2022. 

However, the institution has also been under financial pressure, warning in December last year that it will have to make nearly £100 million in cuts because of lower than expected student numbers. 

While setting up a branch campus can be an expensive operation for universities, India’s Gift City, a special economic zone in Gujarat, offers tax exemptions and allows foreign institutions to repatriate profits. Two Australian providers, Deakin University and the University of Wollongong, have already established small campuses there. 

Also looking for partnership opportunities are private providers, which offer to set up campuses on behalf of universities and, in some cases, front the cash – a model that is permitted in Gift City. 

Tara Panjwani, associate director at the UK India Business Council, said that UK universities’ offshore activities could help mitigate some of their financial instability, caused in part by changing government policies and fluctuating international student numbers.

“Universities need to think of longer-term, broader, deeper relationships in country, which will lay the foundations for them to organically develop a very strong brand in India,” she said. “And therefore Indian students will gravitate to such universities, despite any uncertainty in the visa system.”

Southampton, which has an overseas campus in Malaysia, stopped short of commenting on branch campus plans but confirmed that it was “actively exploring opportunities to further develop our long-standing relationship with India”.

Imperial College London does not have plans to establish a branch campus but is set to open a research hub in the country, akin to its existing one in Singapore.

For the most part, universities are treading cautiously when it comes to bricks-and-mortar operations in India, focusing more on twinning programmes and dual and joint degrees. 

“There are three significant private universities who we’re going to partner with,” said Tariq Ali, pro vice-chancellor for global engagement and partnerships at the University of Liverpool, who confirmed that his institution was in the “early stages” of thinking about a branch campus.

“We’re not the only ones having those discussions but it’s early days,” he said.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com