Australia’s premier institution Deakin will become the first university in the world to open an international teaching campus in India. With International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) approval now, it will set up an International Branch Campus (IBC) in GIFT-IFSC, GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City).
The campus is expected to open around mid-2024, the same year Deakin celebrates its 50th anniversary and 30 years in India.
According to its Vice-Chancellor Iain Martin, “Deakin was the first international university to establish its presence in India in 1994, and since then, through innovative collaborations across research, education and training, we have forged a bond based on commitment, excellence, trust and transparency.”
Prof Martin remembered how back in 1893, Alfred Deakin – the Australian Prime Minister after whom the university is named – predicted that students from Australia and India would traverse international borders and form lasting intellectual partnerships.
He said Deakin’s approach was ‘in India, with India, for India’ and that as the university prepared to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024, opening a new India campus “marked an exciting new chapter”. According to Ravneet Pawha, Vice-President (Global Alliances) and CEO (South Asia), Deakin, it was a “momentous occasion for Australia and India”.
The Australia-India Economic Strategy 2035, released in 2018, cited Deakin as an ‘ideal collaborator’ with India. Over almost three decades, it has developed strategic partnerships with India’s premier research organisations, businesses, and academic institutions.
