Sources claim that the Education Ministry contemplated include INIs and BUs inside the proposed HECI’s purview while considering the various laws and capabilities of the proposed institution.

The Indian Express has heard that Institutes of National Importance (INIs), like as IITs, IIMs, NITs, and IISERs, are likely to be included in the purview of the planned single higher education regulator, the Higher Education Commission of India.

At the moment, neither the University Grants Commission nor the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have any authority over central universities (CUs) or Indian National Institutes (INIs), which are governed by their respective Acts of Parliament. The IITs, IIMs, and NITs deal with the ministry directly on financial problems, whilst the central institutions continue to depend on the UGC for the release of their budgetary funding.

Sources claim that the Education Ministry contemplated include INIs and BUs inside the proposed HECI’s purview while considering the various laws and capabilities of the proposed institution. If the government goes through with the plan, it will undoubtedly give IIMs heartburn because they have been fiercely protective of their autonomy, especially since the IIM Act was passed.

The potential of placing all technical education institutes under HECI’s authority was raised at a presentation made by the then-AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe in December 2021, according to an IIM director who spoke to The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity. However, a few IIM directors collectively wrote a letter to the ministry opposing the idea in the first few months of 2022.

There are currently 160 INIs, including AIIMS, IITs, NITs, and IIMs. These institutions are able to confer degrees, hold their own examinations, and receive government money. They are also administered by their own senates or boards of governors, but the government does participate to some extent.

The most major change to higher education that the new National Education Policy (NEP), which was unveiled in July 2020, foresees is the HECI. But the concept of one regulator superseding all other higher education regulators existed before NEP 2020. In fact, the Higher Education Council of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill was introduced by the NDA administration in January 2018. The NEP, 2020, was announced within two years, but it was never finalised.

The National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), the National Accreditation Council (NAC), the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), and the General Education Council (GEC), which sets academic standards, are the four different verticals that make up the proposed HECI structure.