New Delhi: India needs structural higher education reforms to address the significant imbalance in international student mobility that contributes to brain drain and outward remittances, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26.
Despite India being one of the world’s largest domestic education systems, the country faces a widening “education deficit”, according to the survey tabled in the Parliament on Thursday. With 28 Indian students going abroad for every international student choosing India, the document said, the country has officially emerged as the world’s largest source country for international students.
To counter these challenges, the survey has recommended an aggressive “education-tourism” strategy. This involves leveraging the National Education Policy (NEP) and updated UGC guidelines to enable foreign branch campuses, mutual recognition of qualifications and student exchange programmes.
The strategy aims to blend India’s strengths in STEM education, innovation, and its digital ecosystem with its traditional strengths in Ayurveda, philosophy, and classical arts. By using quality benchmarks like the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and the “Study in India” initiative, the government aims to create a compelling, affordable proposition for the Global South.
Student exodus
The count of Indians studying overseas has surged from 6.85 lakh in 2016 to an estimated 18 lakh by 2025. This migration carries a heavy economic price tag, with annual outward remittances for “studies abroad” climbing to a staggering ₹3.4 billion in FY24, according to the survey. “Indian students abroad are highly concentrated in a small group of host countries, including Canada, the USA, the UK, and Australia, whose attractiveness is driven by perceived quality, work rights, migration pathways, and strong branding.”
While the global stock of mobile students grew from 22 lakh in 2001 to 69 lakh in 2022, India has struggled to capture a significant share of this market. Even within the BRICS bloc, Russia and China account for over 80% of inbound mobility, while India’s share remains in the single digits, it said.
Domestically, inbound student numbers rose from under 7,000 in 2000-01 to approximately 49,000 in 2020. However, this represents a mere 0.10% of total higher education enrollment in India. In contrast, leading host countries see international students making up between 10% and 40% of their campuses.
While India remains the dominant destination in South Asia—attracting four-fifths of students from Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Bhutan—its regional share has been slipping since 2011, according to the survey. It warned that rising competition from other regional hubs necessitates a “refresh” of India’s value proposition to remain attractive to its neighbours.
Fixing gaps
The survey highlighted that the traditional education hubs, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have seen declines in international enrollment, while Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as new hosts. This trend suggests that sub-national policies and institutional outreach are becoming decisive factors in attracting foreign talent.
India’s core strength remains its cost-effective, English-medium STEM and management education. Currently, 13 specific programs—led by B.Tech, BBA, and B.Sc—account for the bulk of foreign student interest. However, “regulatory frictions” and limited international visibility continue to prevent India from converting its massive scale into a global “pull factor”.
“To position India as an education hub, broader strategies need to be deployed. Programme diversification beyond full degrees, such as summer schools, semester-abroad modules, heritage and philosophy tracks, yoga and Ayurveda certificates, and innovation or rural-immersion labs, can be bundled with tourism circuits and tailored for BRICS and wider Global South partners,” the survey said. “Promoting reciprocal student mobility by establishing bilateral agreements, alongside encouraging top Indian HEIs (higher education institutions) to institutionalise two-way exchange programmes and offer joint, dual, or twinning degrees can be considered.”
The survey has highlighted the success of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, which has trained over two lakh individuals from 160 countries. It argued that by building an ecosystem that offers research and education of global standards at affordable costs, India can move beyond simple “influence” to create “generational goodwill”.