Proposed new legislation in Delhi would open up the heart of India’s capital city to private campuses, increasing competition as more foreign universities plot ways into the country.
A draft private university bill has been approved by the Delhi cabinet, described as the beginning of a new era of higher education by chief minister of Delhi, Rekha Gupta.
If it passes the city’s legislative assembly, it will establish a legal framework to build new private universities in Delhi.
Until now, new campuses have been built only on the outskirts of Delhi, in neighbouring states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which have their own private university acts and have leveraged their proximity to the capital to attract students.
For example, the University of Southampton’s Delhi campus – which was the first of the new sites to open in 2025 – is actually in Gurugram, located southwest of Delhi and part of the Delhi National Capital Region.
