Australian universities keen on opening campuses in Karnataka

Australia’s High Commissioner to India Philip Green met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge in late November when he was in the city to participate in the Bengaluru Tech Summit.

Bengaluru: Universities in Australia have expressed an interest in opening their international campuses in Karnataka. Australia’s High Commissioner to India Philip Green said the interest has been conveyed to the state government.

Green met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge in late November when he was in the city to participate in the Bengaluru Tech Summit. “I wanted the ministers to know about the interest shown by some of our universities. They said that they will be happy to receive proposals in this regard. It is a pathway for us to open more specific discussions,” Green told DH.

Two Australian universities — Deakin and Wollongang — are set to welcome students in their upcoming campuses at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from the next academic year. These are the first foreign universities to set up campuses in India. Green had a recent visit to the university sites where purpose-built buildings are coming up.

“Two of our universities are building properties; they will be open next year. There is a lively interest from Australian universities in India and in most cases, they look at specific states to open these branches. Karnataka is definitely on the radar. The universities will need to decide on how to take this forward, based on how their proposals are received,” the High Commissioner said.

Green said while the number of Indian students in Australia is growing, Australian institutions in India will form a major component of the educational ties between the two countries in the future. He noted that the setup gives Indian students a chance to earn globally valued degrees at home, at lower-than-standard international costs.

“The faculty (at the upcoming universities) will have a good mix of Australian and Indian academics, but this will be an operation of Australian character,” Green said.