The government is preparing a comprehensive overhaul of India’s higher education regulatory framework through the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15 December and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 16 December.
The proposed law—the most significant reset of higher education governance since the setting up of the University Grants Commission (UGC)—comes amid concerns that the country's universities remain over-regulated, uneven in quality, and poorly aligned with global academic and research standards.
At the centre of the Bill is the creation of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan, a new apex body that will set the strategic direction for higher education. Operational powers will be split across three independent councils, each dealing separately with regulation, accreditation, and academic standards. Mint explains:
Why is the government pushing this change now?
India’s higher education system has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, but regulation has struggled to keep pace. Multiple regulators, overlapping mandates, approval-heavy processes, and input-focused norms have often constrained institutional autonomy without consistently improving quality.
Several policy reviews, including those underpinning the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, concluded that excessive regulatory control has discouraged innovation, delayed academic decisions and created compliance burdens that do not necessarily translate into better learning outcomes.
At the same time, the country's ambition to emerge as a global education destination has exposed gaps in accreditation credibility, research ecosystems, and international recognition of degrees.
“India’s higher education system is currently overseen by multiple regulators with overlapping roles, leading to delays and weak institutional autonomy. The new law seeks to address this by creating a clearer structure with separate councils for regulation, accreditation, and standards, while ensuring state representation and preserving states’ powers to establish and run universities," said Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, former chairman of UGC and former vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
What is the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan?
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan will function as the apex strategic body for higher education, along with three councils: the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad (Regulatory Council), the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad (Accreditation Council), and the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad (Standards Council).
These will replace current regulatory bodies such as the UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
Rather than acting as a day-to-day regulator, the apex body will provide long-term policy direction, coordinate the functioning of its three councils, and advise the central and state governments on higher education reforms.
Its mandate includes promoting multidisciplinary universities, encouraging India’s positioning as an education hub, supporting research and innovation, and integrating Bharatiya (Indian) knowledge systems into higher education curricula.
The Adhishthan will also oversee funding support for the councils and act as the institutional anchor of the new regulatory architecture. The institutions of national importance, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), will fall within the national framework for standards, accreditation, and disclosure, but their existing governance structures, Acts, boards, funding mechanisms and academic freedom will not be overridden or diluted.
How will regulation change under the new system?
Regulatory oversight will be handled by the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad, or the Regulatory Council, which will serve as the common regulator for higher education institutions. Unlike the current system, which relies heavily on prior approvals and periodic inspections, the new regulator will emphasize public disclosure, compliance monitoring, and time-bound corrective action.
Institutions will be required to place detailed information on finances, audits, faculty strength, infrastructure, courses and outcomes in the public domain. The regulator will have the power to act within 60 days in cases of misreporting or irregularities, rather than waiting for violations to surface years later.
A major shift is the move towards graded autonomy. As institutions achieve higher accreditation levels, they will gain greater academic and administrative freedom. Well-performing colleges may eventually be permitted to grant degrees independently, thereby reducing their dependence on affiliated universities.
How will accreditation change?
Quality assurance will be led by the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad, or the Accreditation Council. Instead of focusing on inputs such as land area or classroom size, accreditation will hinge on educational outcomes, governance quality, financial probity, and transparency.
The council will empanel and monitor independent accreditation agencies, creating a competitive accreditation ecosystem rather than a single, centralized assessor. Institutions will also be required to publish institutional development plans, laying out their academic goals, resource allocation and timelines, making long-term planning a visible and accessible exercise.
How will academic standards be set?
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad, or the Standards Council, will be responsible for defining academic benchmarks across the system. This includes framing expected learning outcomes, qualification levels, credit transfer norms, and minimum academic standards.
While the council will provide broad frameworks, institutions, and faculty will retain autonomy over curriculum design, pedagogy and assessment. The council will also work on aligning vocational education with higher education and facilitating student mobility across disciplines and modes of learning.
Who does the Bill apply to, and who is excluded?
The Bill covers universities established under central and state laws, deemed universities, affiliated colleges, institutions of national importance, institutions of eminence, and providers of online, open and digital education.
Professional programmes regulated by bodies such as the medical, legal, pharmacy, and nursing councils are excluded from the Bill’s direct regulatory scope. However, institutions governed under the new framework can continue offering such programmes, subject to compliance with the respective professional regulators.
What enforcement powers does the new framework have?
The Bill introduces a graded penalty structure to enforce compliance. Initial violations can attract fines starting at ₹10 lakh, escalating sharply for repeated or persistent breaches. In extreme cases, institutions may lose their right to grant degrees or face closure. At the same time, the law explicitly states that penalties should not harm students’ interests, requiring regulators to ensure continuity of education and safeguard enrolled students.
What does this mean for universities and colleges?
Institutions will face higher transparency and accountability expectations but also gain greater autonomy if they meet accreditation benchmarks. Internal governance systems, data management and financial reporting will need strengthening, as continuous public disclosure becomes central to regulatory oversight. For well-run institutions, the framework offers a path to faster decision-making, academic flexibility and global engagement. For weaker institutions, it raises the compliance bar and reduces room for opacity.
What about the funding mechanism?
The Bill makes it clear that funding of universities and colleges will continue to be handled by the central and state governments, not by the proposed commission or its councils. Section 38 allows the central government to provide grants to the Adhishthan, while Section 39 establishes a dedicated fund to support the commission's functioning and its three councils. These funds are meant only for regulatory, accreditation, and standards-setting activities.
The Bill does not authorize the regulatory, accreditation or standards councils to finance universities or colleges, nor does it alter existing funding powers of the Centre or states. Universities established under state laws will continue to be funded, governed, and administered under those laws, subject only to minimum national academic standards and accreditation requirements.
Funding for student fellowships, scholarships, and research schemes will also continue through existing government ministries and agencies. The Bill separates regulation from financing, linking autonomy and expansion to accreditation outcomes and transparency rather than direct financial control.
What does referral to a JPC mean?
A JPC comprises members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and is tasked with examining complex legislation in detail.
The committee will review the Bill clause by clause, seek feedback from stakeholders such as state governments, universities, and experts, and submit recommendations to Parliament.
While this does not stall the Bill indefinitely, it does mean that its passage and implementation will take more time, and that key provisions, especially those affecting autonomy, regulatory powers and the Centre-state balance, could still be refined before the law is enacted.
What will determine the success of the reform?
The success of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan framework will depend on how consistently autonomy is granted once standards are met, and how restrained the regulator remains in practice. Much will also hinge on the credibility of the accreditation ecosystem and the capacity of institutions, especially state universities and colleges, to meet new disclosure and governance requirements.
“It is positioned as a forward-looking reform aimed at improving the quality and governance of the country’s higher education system. The Bill makes accreditation mandatory for institutions, links autonomy to graded accreditation outcomes, and provides for government funding support,” said Praveen Kumar, former joint secretary, the department of higher education.