Karnataka rolls out red carpet for Australian universities to set up campuses in state

BENGALURU: As part of its efforts to bring foreign players into the education sector in the state, Karnataka has rolled out the red carpet for Australian universities to set up their campuses here.

Minister for Higher Education, Skill Development and IT/BT Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana during a discussion with a delegation headed by Sarah Kirlew, Consul General of Australia, on Tuesday said Australian universities are welcome to open their campuses in the state. He also assured that the required facilities would be extended.

The minister encouraged the setting up of centres of excellence by Australia in collaboration with universities in Karnataka and said priority will be given to these.

Australian universities are allowed to enter into MoUs with any university of the state including VTU. 

As part of the discussion, the members of the Australian delegation reportedly apprised Narayana about the MoUs with many institutions in the state including IISc, Raman Research Centre, Veterinary & Fisheries, ISRO, Indian Astrophysics Institution, etc, and also sought to know more about the startup ecosystem of Karnataka.

The minister responded positively and said information regarding this would be shared with them.

He also said co-operation with Australia in the ‘Cyber Security’ sector would continue under the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ programme.