- Move to strengthen India-Australia education ties
- UNSW’s Bengaluru campus represents a significant step in deepening India-Australia educational ties, offering world-class opportunities for Indian students while fostering stronger bilateral collaboration in research, skills, and innovation
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), a founding member of Australia’s prestigious Group of Eight (Go8), has officially received the green light to establish a campus in Bengaluru, India. The approval came in the form of a Letter of Intent (LOI), presented during the third Australia-India Education and Skills Council (AIESC) meeting in New Delhi by India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and his Australian counterpart Jason Clare.
“This is a milestone moment for UNSW and India alike,” said Pradhan, emphasizing the potential for new collaborations among students, academics, and industry. Clare highlighted that education is one of Australia’s largest exports, noting that transnational initiatives like UNSW’s India campus benefit both countries.
- UNSW, ranked 20th globally and second in Australia, is poised to become India’s highest-ranked university through this initiative, surpassing the University of Southampton’s India campus, currently ranked 87th in the QS 2026 rankings
- The Bengaluru campus will offer undergraduate programs in business, media, computer and data science, along with a postgraduate degree in cybersecurity
Vice-Chancellor Attila Brungs described the move as a continuation of UNSW’s 70-year history of engagement with Indian students and scholars. “For the first time, Indian students will be able to study at a global top-20 university on home soil,” he said, adding that the campus will align with India’s National Education Policy 2020 priorities, fostering research excellence, internationalization, and improved graduate outcomes.
The Bengaluru campus strengthens UNSW’s existing partnerships with leading Indian institutions such as IIM Bangalore, the National Law School of India, and the Indian Institute of Science. UNSW joins other Australian universities—Victoria University, University of Western Australia, La Trobe University, and Western Sydney University—in planning India campuses under the University Grants Commission’s international branch campus regulations. Deakin and the University of Wollongong have already opened campuses in GIFT City.
This announcement coincides with a high-level Australian delegation’s visit to India, aimed at enhancing higher-education collaboration. The delegation is advancing plans for seven Australian university campuses in India and promoting initiatives including critical-skills courses, teacher education alignment, and innovative education delivery. The AIESC meeting also unveiled ten new joint research projects under the SPARC scheme and new cooperation frameworks in early childhood education and teacher professional development.
