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. In general, universities in India are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. In addition, 15 Professional Councils are established, controlling different aspects of accreditation and coordination. Central universities, in addition, are covered by the Central Universities Act, 2009, which regulates their purpose, powers governance etc., and established 12 new universities. The list of central universities published by the UGC includes 47 central universities as of 6 September 2016.
The 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.
- 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.
- Private universities are approved by the UGC. They can grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus affiliated colleges.
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. 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), the National Law Schools, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and other autonomous institutes.
Universities by state
The regions with the most central universities in India are Delhi (namely University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, IGNOU, South Asian University) and Uttar Pradesh also with five central universities namely BHU, AMU, Allahabad University, BBAU, Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation 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.
| State / Union Territory | Central universities |
|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 0 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1 |
| Assam | 2 |
| Bihar | 3 |
| Chhattisgarh | 1 |
| Delhi | 5 |
| Goa | 0 |
| Gujarat | 1 |
| Haryana | 1 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 2 |
| Jharkhand | 1 |
| Karnataka | 1 |
| Kerala | 1 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 2 |
| Maharashtra | 1 |
| Manipur | 2 |
| Meghalaya | 1 |
| Mizoram | 1 |
| Nagaland | 1 |
| Odisha | 1 |
| Puducherry | 1 |
| Punjab | 1 |
| Rajasthan | 1 |
| Sikkim | 1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 |
| Telangana | 3 |
| Tripura | 1 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 5 |
| Uttarakhand | 1 |
| West Bengal | 1 |
| Total | 46 |
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 four central universities in Uttar Pradesh
| S. No | University | State | Location | Established | Specialization | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rajiv Gandhi University | Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar | 1985 (2007 ) |
General | |
| 2. | Assam University | Assam | Silchar | 1994 | General | |
| 3. | Tezpur University | Assam | Tezpur | 1994 | General | |
| 4. | Central University of South Bihar | Bihar | Gaya | 2009 | General | |
| 5. | Mahatma Gandhi Central University | Bihar | Motihari | 2016 | General | |
| 6. | Nalanda University‡ | Bihar | Rajgir, Nalanda | 2010 * | General | |
| 7. | Guru Ghasidas University | Chhattisgarh | Bilaspur | 1983 (2009) |
General | |
| 8. | Indira Gandhi National Open University‡ | Delhi | New Delhi | 1985 | Distance education | |
| 9. | Jamia Millia Islamia | Delhi | New Delhi | 1920 (1988) |
General | |
| 10. | Jawaharlal Nehru University | Delhi | New Delhi | 1969 | General | |
| 11. | South Asian University‡ | Delhi | New Delhi | 2010 * | International | |
| 12. | University of Delhi | Delhi | New Delhi | 1922 | General | |
| 13. | Central University of Gujarat# | Gujarat | Gandhinagar | 2009 | General | |
| 14. | Central University of Haryana# | Haryana | Mahendragarh | 2009 | General | |
| 15. | Central University of Himachal Pradesh# | Himachal Pradesh | Dharamsala | 2009 | General | |
| 16. | Central University of Jammu# | Jammu and Kashmir | Jammu | 2011 | General | |
| 17. | Central University of Kashmir# | Jammu and Kashmir | Srinagar | 2009 | General | |
| 18. | Central University of Jharkhand# | Jharkhand | Ranchi | 2009 | General | |
| 19. | Central University of Karnataka# | Karnataka | Gulbarga | 2009 | General | |
| 20. | Central University of Kerala# | Kerala | Kasaragod | 2009 | General | |
| 21. | Dr. Hari Singh Gour University | Madhya Pradesh | Sagar | 1946 (2009) |
General | |
| 22. | Indira Gandhi National Tribal University | Madhya Pradesh | Amarkantak | 2007 | General | |
| 23. | Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya | Maharashtra | Wardha | 1997 | Hindi | |
| 24. | Central Agricultural University‡ | Manipur | Imphal | 1993 | Agriculture | |
| 25. | Manipur University | Manipur | Imphal | 1980 (2005) |
General | |
| 26. | North Eastern Hill University | Meghalaya | Shillong | 1973 | General | |
| 27. | Mizoram University | Mizoram | Aizawl | 2000 | General | |
| 28. | Nagaland University | Nagaland | Lumami | 1994 | General | |
| 29. | Central University of Orissa# | Odisha | Koraput | 2009 | General | |
| 30. | Pondicherry University | Puducherry | Pondicherry | 1985 | General | |
| 31. | Central University of Punjab# | Punjab | Bathinda | 2009 | General | |
| 32. | Central University of Rajasthan# | Rajasthan | Ajmer | 2009 | General | |
| 33. | Sikkim University | Sikkim | Gangtok | 2007 | General | |
| 34. | Central University of Tamil Nadu# | Tamil Nadu | Tiruvarur | 2009 | General | |
| 35. | Indian Maritime University‡ | Tamil Nadu | Chennai | 2008 | Marine science | |
| 36. | English and Foreign Languages University | Telangana[49] | Hyderabad | 1958 (2007) |
English and Foreign languages | |
| 37. | Maulana Azad National Urdu University | Telangana[49] | Hyderabad | 1998 | Urdu | |
| 38. | University of Hyderabad | Telangana[49] | Hyderabad | 1974 | General | |
| 39. | Tripura University | Tripura | Agartala | 1987 | General | |
| 40. | Aligarh Muslim University | Uttar Pradesh | Aligarh | 1920 | General | |
| 41. | University of Allahabad | Uttar Pradesh | Allahabad | 1887 | General | |
| 42. | Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University | Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow | 1996 | General | |
| 43. | Banaras Hindu University | Uttar Pradesh | Varanasi | 1916 | General | |
| 44. | Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University‡ | Uttar Pradesh | Raebareli | 2013 | Aviation Science | |
| 45. | Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University | Uttarakhand | Srinagar | 1973 (2009) |
General | |
| 46. | Visva-Bharati University | West Bengal | Santiniketan | 1921 | General |
- Notes
Granted central university status
# Established by the Central Universities Act, 2009
* Established under Central Act: South Asian University Act, 2008 and Nalanda University Act, 2010
‡ Directly funded by Government of India and not by UGC
