States are increasingly amending their education laws to attract foreign campuses. Discuss the implications for cooperative and competitive federalism in higher education.

Education is in the Concurrent List (Entry 25, List III). Setting standards in higher education, however, is a Union subject (Entry 66, List I) [1]. The UGC's 2023 Regulations therefore decide who may enter. States decide where campuses come up and on what terms. Andhra Pradesh did this by amending its Education Act, 1982 and approving a 2026 policy for foreign and private campuses [2]. This creates both partnership and rivalry.

Cooperative federalism: shared roles

• Division of labour: UGC's single-window Standing Committee screens proposals and issues Letters of Intent (LoIs) [3]. States provide land, infrastructure and recognition under State law [2].
• Common quality floor: only institutions in the global top 500 are eligible, and initial approval lasts 10 years [4]. State incentives therefore cannot lower academic standards.
• Joint facilitation: the Centre set up a Facilitation Committee for FHEIs in December 2025 to help institutions that already hold LoIs [3]. Its work depends on State agencies cooperating.
• Equity alongside expansion: A.P. approved a tribal Centre of Excellence at Marikavalasa at the same meeting, for IIT-JEE and NEET coaching [2].

Competitive federalism: rivalry for campuses

• Healthy race: 16 LoIs have gone to 15 institutions, clustered in Bengaluru, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Mumbai and Chennai [3]. This pushes late entrants like A.P. to simplify their laws and improve infrastructure.
• Race to the bottom: only a few institutions are coming. States may compete by giving away land and concessions instead of by improving quality.
• Regional imbalance: campuses follow metros, which widens the gap between advanced and lagging States.
• Internal brain drain: higher pay at foreign campuses may draw senior faculty away from State universities.
• Regulatory friction: the proposed single regulator under the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 [5] may reopen Centre–State questions about the autonomy of State universities.

Centre (Entry 66) ──► UGC eligibility + LoI
                          │
State (Entry 25)  ──► Act amendment, land, incentives ──► Foreign campus

Figure: How Centre and State roles combine to bring in a foreign campus

State amendments are cooperative federalism in design and competitive federalism in execution. A Centre–State model framework would keep the competition focused on quality. It could link State concessions to published scholarship seats for local and Scheduled Tribe students, and link UGC renewal to disclosed outcomes. This would serve both NEP 2020's internationalisation goal [6] and SDG 4's promise of equitable, quality education.