When we think of colonial legacies, grand clocks, railways, and trade routes often come to mind. But in India, a subtler form of British influence is taking shape — via campuses, degree programmes and research hubs, rather than flags or armies. Welcome to GIFT City, Gujarat — a gleaming symbol of India’s ambitions — and now, a lynchpin in the UK’s strategy to export its higher education brand without opening its borders.
GIFT City: The New Frontier in UK-India Education Diplomacy
GIFT City stands for Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, India’s first international financial hub. Designed to attract investment, global businesses, and talent, it’s a place made for the future. And the UK is meeting that future with plans to build more than just trade links — it’s building campuses.
A number of British universities — Queen’s University Belfast, Coventry University, the University of Surrey — have secured approval to open branch campuses inside GIFT City. Fields like business, technology, finance, cybersecurity, AI are being eyed. This is the UK’s largest education expansion project anywhere, and India is the stage.
From Gandhinagar to Gurugram, from Bengaluru to elsewhere, the footprint is growing: Southampton already has a campus in Gurugram; Lancaster and Liverpool are planning campuses for Bengaluru by 2026; others such as York, Aberdeen and Bristol have gotten permissions via India’s new foreign campus regulations.
In short: “British higher education is being exported,” with GIFT City as its flagship.
Why the UK Prefers Branch Campuses to Visa Reforms
But here’s the twist: while British universities push overseas, the UK government is simultaneously drawing a line under student immigration. During his trade mission to Mumbai, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked if student visa concessions were part of any deal with India. His response was unequivocal: no. “That isn’t part of the plans,” he said. The message is loud and clear: global educational expansion, yes — easier student-visas, no.
Why the two-pronged approach? The government argues that exporting education preserves the prestige and revenue of UK universities without adding pressure on domestic services, jobs, housing, public systems — or in political terms, increasing migration. Education becomes a kind of soft currency: influence, reputation, income — all gained without the contentious politics of immigration.
What’s Being Planned: The Campus Roll-Out
Here’s a breakdown of what’s being set up or planned:
- Queen’s University Belfast: Slated to start operations at its GIFT City campus in January 2026, offering postgraduate degrees in areas like financial technology, business analytics, finance, leadership, sustainable development. More tech-heavy programmes (AI, etc.) to follow.
- Coventry University: The first English university to be granted a licence to open a full campus in GIFT City. Courses include BSc Honours in International Business Management, Business & Finance to begin with, with more to follow. First students expected in 2026.
- University of Surrey: Plans to start its international branch campus in GIFT City as well, together with GUS Global Services (India branch). Focus areas: computer science, cybersecurity, AI, international finance & business management. Regulatory approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) is underway.
The UK-India new regulations around foreign branch campuses (notably via IFSCA under India’s policy changes) are making this all easier.
What Britain Gains — And What India Gets
For the UK:
- Revenue and Reputation: These overseas campuses generate income (tuition, partnerships) and help maintain “brand UK” in education globally.
- Soft Power: Cultural influence, alumni networks, research collaborations.
- Risk Control: By exporting the classroom, the UK can sidestep political backlash around migration and strain on public services.
For India:
- Access to Global Education at Home: Students can get degrees that carry the UK stamp without needing to travel (which cuts costs & risk).
- Skills & Capacity Building: Disciplines like AI, cybersecurity, fintech are future-facing. Having quality nearby helps with talent development and meeting job market needs.
- Institutional & Research Partnerships: Joint research, faculty exchanges, collaborations that may otherwise be harder with visa restrictions.
The Visa Paradox
Here’s the paradox: British universities are going to India; many Indian students want to come to the UK. Yet, the UK is resisting relaxing visa rules for students. There’s political risk in opening up the immigration tap. So instead, the UK is saying: “You don’t need to come here — we’ll bring the UK education to you.”
This strategy reflects a broader post-Brexit angle: trade, export, diplomatic influence, but with tighter control over migration. Whether this works in the long run, or whether it will lead to demands for visa reforms, remains to be seen.
But Are There Limitations & Critics?
Yes, there are voices raising concerns:
- Prestige vs Substance: Some academics argue that branch campuses can be prestige exercises — visible symbols, yes; but they don’t always resolve funding gaps at home or fully replicate the research intensity or culture of the main campuses.
- Costs and Quality Control: Setting up facilities, hiring faculty, ensuring parity with the home campus — all of this can be tricky. The assurance that degrees will be recognised, and academic oversight maintained, will matter enormously.
- Student Experience: Even when a campus is local, there are differences in resources, social life, funding, internships, exchange opportunities. Will the branch campuses offer the same return on investment for students as going to UK proper?
- Visa Pressure Will Re-emerge: Even with local campuses, ambitious students may still wish to study in the UK (for networking, immigration, prestige). Unless visa flexibility improves, there’s risk of frustration and diplomatic pressure.
Why GIFT City, Why Now
GIFT City is a perfect storm combining:
- Policy changes in India (2022-23) that allow foreign universities to open campuses.
- India pushing to raise its higher education capacity (NEP 2020 etc.).
- A booming youth population, rising demand for skilled workforces.
- Universities in the UK facing funding pressures and seeking new revenue streams.
So for both sides, this feels timely.
The Big Question: Is Britain “Settling” for Exporting Instead of Welcoming?
There’s a symbolic resonance in this shift: a country once known for attracting global students now choosing more to send its universities abroad rather than open its borders. It raises deeper questions: what kind of global education strategy do you want? One that is open and allows mobility, or one where export becomes the dominant mode?
In the defence of the UK government’s current approach, exporting classrooms allows maintaining control over migration, public services, political optics. But if the goal is more than prestige — if it’s about exchange, mutual enrichment, cultural integration — then policies around visas and student mobility may need to catch up.
Looking Ahead: What to Watch
- Visa policy changes: Will there be pressure for easier student visa pathways as these branch campuses grow and more students aspire to study physically in the UK?
- Expansion of curriculum: Will these campuses evolve into full-fledged research hubs (labs, PhDs, postdocs), or stay primarily teaching-oriented?
- Costs and access: Can these campuses keep fees affordable and create scholarships, to avoid being accessible only to a wealthy few?
- Domestic response in the UK: How will people, universities, politicians react if local students and infrastructure are deprioritised or if foreign ventures are seen as draining focus from domestic issues?
- Long-term sustainability: Are these overseas campuses financially stable? Will quality be maintained? Will reputational risks be managed?
Conclusion
The arrival of UK universities in GIFT City and elsewhere in India marks a new chapter in global higher education diplomacy. Rather than loosening visa rules to let more students into UK campuses, Britain is choosing to send its campuses into India. For the UK, this is a strategy of export, prestige, revenue and influence. For India, it offers remarkable opportunity: access to world-class education at home, possible growth in skills and research, and new academic partnerships.
But the road ahead is complex. The success of this approach depends not just on certificates and lecture halls, but on visa policies, equal access, educational quality, student experience, and the balance between prestige and substance. Whether this trend becomes the norm or a stopgap will be clear in the coming years.
