State governments have legislation in place to grant university status to private colleges, providing them with their own degree-awarding powers and much more autonomy. This is the fastest area of growth in new universities. There are currently 100 such private universities in India (16% of degree-awarding institutions). The central government also has the means to grant university status to private institutions, under the ‘deemed university’ category. There are currently 129 deemed universities (20% of degree-awarding institutions). It is unclear whether or not this central role will continue, given the plans to develop more decision-making to the states. system is under tremendous pressure to expand. India’s young population has a huge appetite for education and, as the growth in the size of the middle classes escalates, millions are increasingly able to pay for it. By 2020, India will have the largest tertiary-age population in the world and will have the second largest graduate talent pipeline globally, following China and ahead of the USA. The opportunities for the UK to engage with India through education are considerable.