Draft for private foreign universities under development despite Politburo opposition

Thiruvananthapuram: Although the government has decided not to move ahead with the foreign university plan owing to discord from the CPM Politburo, this will not affect the establishment of the same in private universities. The draft bill for this has already been prepared.

As the budget session was adjourned, the bill will be brought to the Assembly following the Lok Sabha elections. Government sources say that unlike other states, the bill is unique for proposing 20-25 percent student reservation. 

As per the 2003 UGC guidelines, private universities can be established as per the special laws of the state. Societies, companies or public trusts can do this by ensuring adequate infrastructure development, faculty, research facilities, etc. A certain amount of land or investment is not mentioned in the UGC guidelines. 

However, the state government’s draft bill calls for 20 acres of land in cities and 30 acres in villages. An average investment of Rs 30 crore has also been stipulated. 

There are no tax exemptions in the proposed bill. At the same time, it was announced in the budget that foreign universities can be exempted. It promises single window clearance for approvals, stamp duty, transfer duty and registration charges, subsidy on electricity and water, tax exemption and investment subsidy on capital.