India may soon witness a radical shift in how its higher education system is regulated. A new bill is being drafted by the Ministry of Education to establish a unified body — the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) — that would replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
As reported by The Times of India, Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar informed the Lok Sabha on Monday that the bill is currently under preparation. The proposed commission, a key provision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, is envisioned as an umbrella institution with four independent verticals: regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting.
NEP 2020 promotes a "light but tight" regulatory framework focused on transparency, innovation, and good governance. This philosophy, Majumdar said, underpins the move to replace fragmented oversight bodies with one streamlined authority. Currently, the UGC handles non-technical higher education, AICTE oversees technical education, and NCTE regulates teacher training programmes.
According to The Times of India, the concept of HECI isn't entirely new. Back in 2018, a draft bill had been floated to repeal the UGC Act and introduce the HECI in its place. The momentum for structural reform gained ground under Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who assumed office in July 2021.
The NEP document itself acknowledges the need for a systemic overhaul, arguing that India's higher education sector must be "re-energised" to thrive. With the draft HECI bill now officially in the works, the country appears to be moving steadily toward this long-discussed transformation.
