Foreign Universities soon to be part of Indian milieu

New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) In a major move, the government today announced that it was fine-tuning a bill, which will permit foreign universities to set up a shop in India.

The announcement, made by Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath at the 22nd India Economic Summit here, was received with applause by large number of foreign and Indian participants attending the meeting.

The Minister said he has just come from an official meeting where the issue figured, adding that the new law will go a long way in meeting the shortage of quality manpower.

When asked whether the move would meet with bitter resistance by domestic players, Mr Nath said in a democracy such things can happen. But if the government were to go by this, little movement forward will be possible.

The Minister expressed the hope that this new initiative by the government would intensify the process of reverse brain drain.

''If you examine the roster of a University in the West, you will find that quite a few Indians are on its faculty.

The foreign Universities who come to India will be able to give a matching pay packet enticing the Indian academia to return back to their motherland,'' Mr Kamal Nath said.

Mr Kamal Nath was addressing the closing session of the Summit, jointly organised by World Economic Forum and CII.

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