Central universities

University of Allahabad, oldest among all central universities in India.

Central universities or union universities in India are established by an Act of Parliament and are under the purview of the Department of Higher Education in the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.^[1] In general, universities in India are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.^[2][3] In addition, 15 Professional Councils are established, controlling different aspects of accreditation and coordination.^[4] Central universities, in addition, are covered by the Central Universities Act, 2009, which regulates their purpose, powers governance etc., and established 12 new universities.^[5] The list of central universities published by the UGC includes 47 central universities as of 29 June 2017.^[6]

Other types of universities controlled by the UGC include:

• State universities are run by the state government of each of the states and territories of India, and are usually established by a local legislative assembly act.^[7][8]
• Deemed university, or "Deemed-to-be-University", is a status of autonomy granted by the Department of Higher Education on the advice of the UGC, under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.^[9][10]
• Private universities are approved by the UGC. They can grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus affiliated colleges.^[11][12]

Apart from the above universities, other institutions are granted the permission to autonomously award degrees. These institutes do not affiliate colleges and are not officially called "universities" but "autonomous organisations" or "autonomous institutes". They fall under the administrative control of the Department of Higher Education.^[13] These organisations include the Indian Institutes of Technology, the National Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, the Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management (though these award diplomas, not degrees),^[14] the National Law Schools, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and other autonomous institutes.

Universities by state

The region with the most central universities in India is Uttar Pradesh with six universities, namely Aligarh Muslim University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Banaras Hindu University, Allahabad University, Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University and Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University. There are central universities in all of the states of India except Goa and Andhra Pradesh. Of the union territories, there are central universities in Delhi and Puducherry.

The University of Delhi is one of the five central universities in Delhi.

List of central universities in India

Renovated gate of Tezpur University, a central university established in 1994

Main gate of the Banaras Hindu University.

Strachey Hall and the university mosque at Aligarh Muslim University, one of the five central universities in Uttar Pradesh

Central universities of India

S. No	University	State	Location	Established	Specialization	Sources
1.	Rajiv Gandhi University	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar	1985 (2007)	General	[15]
2.	Assam University	Assam	Silchar	1994	General	[16]
3.	Tezpur University	Assam	Tezpur	1994	General	[17]
4.	Central University of South Bihar	Bihar	Gaya	2009	General	[18]
5.	Mahatma Gandhi Central University	Bihar	Motihari	2016	General	[19]
6.	Nalanda University‡	Bihar	Rajgir, Nalanda	2010 *	General	[20]
7.	Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya	Chhattisgarh	Bilaspur	1983 (2009)	General	[21]
8.	Indira Gandhi National Open University‡	Delhi	New Delhi	1985	Distance education	[22]
9.	Jamia Millia Islamia	Delhi	New Delhi	1920 (1988)	General	[23]
10.	Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi	Delhi	New Delhi	1969	General	[24]
11.	South Asian University‡	Delhi	New Delhi	2010 *	International	[25][26]
12.	University of Delhi	Delhi	New Delhi	1922	General	[27]
13.	Central University of Gujarat#	Gujarat	Gandhinagar	2009	General	[28]
14.	Central University of Haryana#	Haryana	Mahendragarh	2009	General	[29]
15.	Central University of Himachal Pradesh#	Himachal Pradesh	Dharamsala	2009	General	[30]
16.	Central University of Jammu#	Jammu and Kashmir	Jammu	2011	General	[31]
17.	Central University of Kashmir#	Jammu and Kashmir	Srinagar	2009	General	[32]
18.	Central University of Jharkhand#	Jharkhand	Ranchi	2009	General	[33]
19.	Central University of Karnataka#	Karnataka	Gulbarga	2009	General	[34]
20.	Central University of Kerala#	Kerala	Kasaragod	2009	General	[35]
21.	Dr. Hari Singh Gour University	Madhya Pradesh	Sagar	1946 (2009)	General	[36]
22.	Indira Gandhi National Tribal University	Madhya Pradesh	Amarkantak	2007	General	[37]
23.	Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya	Maharashtra	Wardha	1997	Hindi	[38]
24.	Central Agricultural University‡	Manipur	Imphal	1993	Agriculture	[39]
25.	Manipur University	Manipur	Imphal	1980 (2005)	General	[40]
26.	North Eastern Hill University	Meghalaya	Shillong	1973	General	[41]
27.	Mizoram University	Mizoram	Aizawl	2000	General	[42]
28.	Nagaland University	Nagaland	Lumami	1994	General	[43]
29.	Central University of Orissa, Koraput#	Odisha	Koraput	2009	General	[44]
30.	Pondicherry University	Puducherry	Pondicherry	1985	General	[45]
31.	Central University of Punjab#	Punjab	Bathinda	2009	General	[46]
32.	Central University of Rajasthan#	Rajasthan	Ajmer	2009	General	[47]
33.	Sikkim University	Sikkim	Gangtok	2007	General	[48]
34.	Central University of Tamil Nadu#	Tamil Nadu	Tiruvarur	2009	General	[49]
35.	Indian Maritime University‡	Tamil Nadu	Chennai	2008	Marine science	[50]
36.	English and Foreign Languages University	Telangana[51]	Hyderabad	1958 (2007)	English and Foreign languages	[52]
37.	Maulana Azad National Urdu University	Telangana[51]	Hyderabad	1998	Urdu	[53]
38.	University of Hyderabad	Telangana[51]	Hyderabad	1974	General	[54]
39.	Tripura University	Tripura	Agartala	1987	General	[55]
40.	Aligarh Muslim University	Uttar Pradesh	Aligarh	1920	General	[56]
41.	University of Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh	Allahabad	1887	General	[57]
42.	Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow	1996	General	[58]
43.	Banaras Hindu University	Uttar Pradesh	Varanasi	1916	General	[59]
44.	Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University‡	Uttar Pradesh	Raebareli	2013	Aviation Science	[60]
45.	Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University	Uttar Pradesh	Jhansi	2014	Agriculture	[61]
46.	Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University	Uttarakhand	Srinagar	1973 (2009)	General	[62]
47.	Visva-Bharati University	West Bengal	Santiniketan	1921	General	[63]

Notes

Granted central university status (year)

^‡ Directly funded by Government of India and not by UGC^[6]

See also

• List of universities in India
• List of state universities in India
• List of deemed universities in India
• List of private universities in India
• List of autonomous higher education institutes in India
• University Grants Commission (India) (UGC)

References

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