Which of the following norms are prescribed for foreign universities to set up…

Concept

Eligibility for a foreign higher educational institution to open a campus in India is fixed by the University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023. The governing principle is that entry is earned by demonstrated academic standing alone. The eligibility clause lists alternative standing tests — a top-500 place in the overall global rankings, a top-500 place in the subject-wise global rankings, or, for an institution outside those lists, recognised outstanding expertise in a particular area as an institution of repute in its home jurisdiction. Nothing in that clause turns on commercial outlay inside India or on the nationality of the people an institution hires.

Application

Test each listed norm against that principle:

1. Statement A — a mandatory investment in the Indian manufacturing industry. The 2023 Regulations attach no commercial-investment obligation to eligibility; a foreign institution is judged on academic standing, not on where it places capital. A is therefore not a prescribed norm.

2. Statement B — a position within the top 500 of the overall global rankings. This is written into the eligibility clause as one of the accepted standing tests, so B is a prescribed norm.

3. Statement C — a position within the top 500 of the subject-wise global rankings. The same clause accepts subject-wise ranking as an alternative to the overall ranking, so C is a prescribed norm.

4. Statement D — employing only Indians for teaching and non-teaching posts. The Regulations leave recruitment to the institution: a campus in India may appoint faculty and staff drawn from India and from abroad, on terms it sets itself. A nationality bar is therefore not a prescribed norm.

5. Statement E — outstanding expertise in a specific area. An institution outside both top-500 lists can still qualify on the strength of recognised outstanding expertise in a particular area, being of repute in its home jurisdiction, so E is a prescribed norm.

Cross-check

• Any combination that carries statement A or statement D imports a condition the Regulations never state — a commercial outlay in one case, a nationality bar on recruitment in the other. That rules out the sets "A, B only", "B, C, D only" and "C, D, E only" together.

• Reading the regulation forward gives the same result: the accepted routes to eligibility are overall top-500, subject-wise top-500, and recognised outstanding expertise in a specific area — statements B, C and E, and nothing else.

• Note the "or" joining those routes: an institution need not satisfy all three at once. All three are still prescribed norms, because each on its own is a recognised ground of eligibility.

Result

The norms prescribed for a foreign university to set up a campus in India are B, C and E only.