India added 196 public universities in 15 years, but most barely functional; private ones outnumber them
In the last 15 years, the count of private universities has grown much faster
than public ones. Of the 520 public universities in the country, just 196 (38%)
were built after 2011. Plus, a sizeable section of them have encountered
significant funding and operational challenges.
It is interesting to note that, despite the push for multidisciplinarity
[https://news.careers360.com/mumbai-university-senate-proposes-establishing-12-multidisciplinary-skill-based-colleges-2027-28-thane-raigad-ratnagiri-palghar],
a large number of new state public universities have a very specialised focus –
sports, skills, veterinary sciences, fishery, animal sciences, horticulture,
fine arts, specific languages, universities for people with disabilities.
West Bengal
[https://news.careers360.com/west-bengal-calcutta-jadavpur-university-private-besc-public-government-universities-faculty-education-standards-bratya-basu]
has added 18 new public universities – the highest of all states – followed by
Rajasthan, in the last 15 years.
Also read ‘Politics minus education’: Why West Bengal colleges are wary of
govt-appointed governing body presidents
[https://news.careers360.com/west-bengal-colleges-politics-minus-education-bjp-mla-mp-presidents-calcutta-kalyani-north-bengal-university-state-govt-tmc]
But the growth in the number of private universities
[https://news.careers360.com/249-universities-5years-aishe-private-central-university-government-sc-st-women-enrolment]
far outstrips that of public ones in most cases. Over the same period, Rajasthan
saw 40 new private universities. Gujarat, which has seen maximum proliferation
[https://news.careers360.com/private-university-india-growth-480-pc-surge-15-yrs-ugc-aishe-data-gujarat-lead-deakin-wollongong-anant-shiv-nadar-srm-vit-woxsen],
has added 54 private universities; its count of public institutions has gone up
by just nine, taking the total to 39.
“It is a well known fact that one of the major reasons behind the slow growth is
funding issues. There are administrative and bureaucratic hurdles as well,” said
the vice-chancellor of a state university, on condition of anonymity. However,
until at least 2021-22, the latest report available of the All India State of
Higher Education (AISHE)
[https://news.careers360.com/aishe-report-2023-24-sc-st-obc-quota-faculty-seats-vacant-reservation-women-representation-fall-iit-iim-professor-muslim-minority],
public state universities account for 81% of the total student enrolment in
higher education
[https://news.careers360.com/union-ministry-of-education-aishe-2022-23-24-report-higher-education-ger-heis-enrolment-female-ger-stem-students-enrolments]
in India.
As for centrally-run institutions, 10 central universities and 30 deemed-to-be
universities were added after 2011, bringing their total counts to 57 and 155,
respectively.
YOUNG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
In 2018 alone, the West Bengal government announced four universities – Dakshin
Dinajpur University, Darjeeling Hills University
[https://news.careers360.com/darjeeling-hills-university-dhu-courses-physics-chemistry-zoology-botany-geography-new-campus-tourism-himalaya-study-job-placement],
Alipurdwar University, Mahatma Gandhi University-Puba Midnapur.
Darjeeling Hills University started functioning only in 2021 and for a long time
students attended online classes, as there was no permanent VC or staff
[https://news.careers360.com/darjeeling-hills-university-north-bengal-nbu-vc-teacher-recruitment-scam-pg-student-campus-aadmission-dying-a-slow-death].
In 2023-24, even admissions were paused. Due to constant conflict between the
previous West Bengal government and the centrally-appointed governor, many
university VCs were appointed only in 2025
[https://news.careers360.com/sc-directs-wb-governor-r-n-ravi-to-appoint-vcs-in-state-universities-ends-long-standing-dispute].
In Rajasthan, the state government established half-a-dozen universities in
2012-13. Here, too, functioning was delayed. For instance, Haridev Joshi
University of Journalism and Mass Communication, set up in 2012, started
functioning seven years later, in the 2019-20 academic year.
Also read 12 DU colleges, just 1 with hostels: Why students are forced into PGs
like the one collapsed in Satya Niketan
[https://news.careers360.com/delhi-university-du-hostel-pg-satya-niketan-building-collapse-south-campus-college-students-sri-venkateswara-svc-arsd-high-rent]
Several of the new institutions were agriculture universities
[https://news.careers360.com/70-agriculture-universities-score-higher-in-nirf-30-rise-in-ranks-analysis]
– in Kota, Jodhpur and Jobner.
Most of these universities affiliate colleges across the state.
Apart from these, the state also started, Sardar Patel University of Police,
Security and Criminal Justice in 2012; Rajasthan University of Veterinary and
Animal Sciences, Bikaner in 2023; and Mahatma Gandhi Divyang University and Baba
Amte Divyang University in 2023.
State Public Universities: Total and new
State
Total
After 2011
Andhra Pradesh
28
4
Assam
27
11
Bihar
21
7
Chattisgarh
16
6
Delhi
11
4
Gujarat
30
9
Haryana
21
10
Himachal Pradesh
7
3
Jammu and Kashmir
9
2
Jharkhand
14
7
Karnataka
43
16
Kerala
15
4
Madhya Pradesh
27
11
Maharashtra
32
12`
Manipur
3
3
Meghalaya
2
2
Odisha
26
10
Puducherry
1
1
Punjab
14
7
Rajasthan
32
17
Sikkim
2
1
Tamil Nadu
22
3
Telangana
19
6
Tripura
2
2
Uttar Pradesh
42
15
Uttarakhand
12
5
West Bengal
38
18
But like in West Bengal, there were hiccups here as well. In 2023, graduates of
Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice had filed a
petition in the Rajasthan High Court alleging their degrees in criminology and
cyber security were not being accepted for recruitment in the state public
exams. The Shri Karan Narendra Agriculture University VC was suspended in
October, 2025.
Here, too, the state government claimed obstruction by the governor, especially
in the case of the two universities for disabled students.
Also read BHU Admission 2026: BFA candidates stunned by practical exam scores;
demand answers and inquiry
[https://news.careers360.com/bhu-admission-2026-banaras-hindu-university-entrance-exam-bfa-fine-arts-question-practical-scores-demand-inquiry-varanasi]
NEP IN UNIVERSITIES: FOCUS ON SPECIALISATIONS
While states continued to set up traditional, multidisciplinary institutions,
many also focused on specific sectors. After the National Education Policy (NEP)
[https://news.careers360.com/bihar-exam-result-delay-brabu-vksu-munger-magadh-bhagalpur-university-nep-fyup-impact-ba-bsc-bcom-education-reform-election-2025]
was adopted, several states set up skill universities
[https://news.careers360.com/skill-development-university-seacom-medhavi-employment-ssu-msu-job-ba-bsc-engineering-mba-law-agriculture-pharmacy-teamlease].
Now Assam, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana all have skill
universities. Several saw sports universities, with the first ones, Maharaja
Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University, coming up in 2019.
Others with similarly specialised focus include the Bihar Animal Sciences
University (2017); Gujarat University of Transplantation Sciences (2015);
Karnataka Folklore University (2011); Karnataka State Rural and Panchayati Raj
University (2016); Sanchi University of Buddhist Indic Studies (2013);
Maharashtra Marathi Bhasha Vidyapeeth (2024); and Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali
Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry (2011).
Gujarat University of Transplantation Sciences (GUTS) is the first university
dedicated to transplantation and allied sciences in the world, its website
claims.
Also read ‘Weaken universities’: Bihar teachers on month-long protest against
plan to bring colleges under govt control
[https://news.careers360.com/bihar-govt-control-250-colleges-autonomy-politics-syllabus-corruption-teacher-transfers-protest-patliputra-patna-university]
The Karnataka State Rural and Panchayati Raj University, now called Mahatma
Gandhi Rural Development and Panchayati Raj University, started its academic
activity in 2017 with five post graduate programmes. It now offers four-year
undergraduate programmes in rural development and governance, public health and
social work, agribusiness and food processing, geo-informatics and computer
sciences, and innovation and startups.
During these years, many states also saw the establishment of law universities
[https://news.careers360.com/law-colleges-courses-surge-5-year-ba-bba-llb-tamil-nadu-370-pc-growth-uttar-pradesh-prsu-csmu-kanpur-dav-mumbai-university].
Maharashtra’s three law universities, came up between 2014 and 2017. Three
northeastern states of Sikkim, Meghalaya and Tripura, set up law universities as
well.
