Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Education Sector in India-1: Lawyers Advice on Foreign Investments in India | Law Firm for Foreign Investments in India | FDI Attorney in India | India Business Entry | Legal Advice for Foreign Investors in India

FDI Attorney in India | FDI in India | Foreign Direct Investments in India | Legal Advice on Foreign Direct Investments in India | Legal Solutions for Foreign Direct Investments in India | Legal Services for Foreign Direct Investments in India | Legal Remedies for Foreign Direct Investments in India | Foreign Investments in Education Sector in India | FDI in Education Sector in India | Applicable Laws upon Education Sector in India | Foreign Direct Investments in Education Sector in India | Legal Advice on Foreign Investments in Education Sector in India | Legal Services for Foreign Investments in Education Sector in India | FDI Attorney in New Delhi | | Setup Business in India | Setting up Business in India | Business Setup in India | FDI Legal Solutions in India | FDI Legal Services in New Delhi | Legal Formalities for Foreign Investments in Education Sector in India | Corporate Attorney in India |

Entering the Indian Market:
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) is permitted up to 100% under the automatic route in the education and learning sector that is also subject to the sectoral rules or regulations as may be applicable.
• Therefore, while FDI is allegedly allowed in education under the automatic route, the current FDI policy read along with the various affiliation and accreditation rules or bye – laws effectively forbid foreign investors from investing in a society, trust or “not-for-profit” company permitted to establish and maintain schools in India.
• Innovative structures of investment:
a) a society, trust or a “not-for-profit” company which establishes and maintains learning institutions;
b) a management corporation (usually incorporated as a private limited company) which aims at providing services such as books/transportation/ to the society/trust/”not-for-profit” company; and
c) An infrastructure corporation which provides land or any other required infrastructure to the society, trust or “not-for-profit” company.
• FDI is channelled through providing services/infrastructure (investing in the management) to the education sector players which in return helps them extract return on its investment.

Best Locations:
• Madhya Pradesh
• Uttar Pradesh
• Delhi

Achievements made by Indian Corporations or in India:
• IIT Madras entered in an agreement with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) in 2019 for research on Energy and Biofuels.
• Government of India is taking the initiative to encourage colleges to offer online courses in rural areas to ensure education for all.
• 18 mergers and acquisitions deal worth US$ 49 million are observed in the Indian education sector in 2017.

Demand in the Market:
• Adopt transformative and inventive approaches in Higher education.
• Have an improved Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 50 per cent
• Reduce state-wise, gender based and social difference in GER to 5 per cent.
• Be amongst the top five countries in terms of research output with a yearly research and development used upto US$ 140 billion.

Existing Notable Players in the Market:
• BYJU
• Unacademy
• Tata Consultancy Service TCS iON Digital Glass Room- (Multinational Company) is also offering free access to digital learning.

Company Registrations, Compliances, Licenses and Permits which are to be procured:
• Certificate for registration of society
• State government issues No objection certification after which that the company can proceed.
• Essentiality of certificate (EC) issued by Directorate of Education
• Certificate of recognition issued by municipal authority of the respective area.
• Certificate of upgradation issued by the Directorate of Education (DOE) for upgrading the school from primary to secondary or from secondary to a higher level.
• Certificate of affiliation issued by central board of secondary education (CBSE)
• Building fitness certificate issued by MCD
• A scheme of management is formed and duly certified by the Department of Education (DOE)
• No loan Certificate issued by the Bank
• Land permission stating that the land is used for purpose of schools only.

Precautionary Measures:
• Land: Choosing a location suitable for educational institutions. The land should be fit for either institutional/commercial purpose.
• Foreign Direct Investment and Public-Private Partnership: Government is promoting public-private partnership (PPP) model in the sector. The major advantage of FDI and PPP in the education sector is that it will open gates for reputed foreign universities to set up campuses in India. It will bring faculties from these reputed overseas universities to India.
i. Basic infrastructure model: the private sector invests in infrastructure, while the government keeps hold of the responsibility for operations and management of institutions. The government does annualized payments to private investors.
ii. Outsourcing model: the private sector invests in the infrastructure and also has the responsibility of operations and management of institutions, while the government pays private investors for specified services.
iii. Equity model: investments in infrastructure are shared between the government and the private sector, while operations and management are owned by the private sector.
iv. Reserve outsourcing model: the Government invests in infrastructure and the private sector takes the responsibility of operations and management.
• Usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education curriculum to improve the efficacy and deliverance of education.
• The national regulatory body All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has no regulatory framework for online degree and diploma courses. While certifications are not recognized by the government, degree and diploma courses are recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is a legal body under the national Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• Any foreign entity that aims at granting online classes or UGC certified courses should be a Higher Education Institution. An HEI is an establishment which deems to be a university covered under the UGC Act, 1956, which is for higher education or research by means of conducting classes or through open/distance learning systems or through an online education for the grant of online certification.
Authored By: Adv. Anant Sharma