Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025: A New "Single Regulator" Framework for Higher Education
SDG 4: Quality Education | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Ministry of Education
Introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 15, 2025, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, proposes a fundamental overhaul of India’s higher education regulatory landscape. This Bill is designed to materialize the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 vision of a “light but tight“ regulatory system that enhances institutional autonomy while ensuring academic standards and transparency.
Key Features and Structure:
Establishment of an Apex Umbrella Body: The Bill creates the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (the Commission), which will serve as the overarching body providing strategic direction for the holistic growth of higher education.
Three Independent Verticals (Parishads): The Commission will oversee three specialized councils with distinct mandates:
Regulatory Council (Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad): Acts as the common regulator responsible for coordinating standards and ensuring compliance across universities and colleges.
Accreditation Council (Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad): Oversees an independent, outcome-based accreditation ecosystem.
Standards Council (Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad): Focuses on determining academic standards and expected learning outcomes.
Dissolution of Existing Regulators: The Bill proposes to repeal three major Acts: the UGC Act, 1956, the AICTE Act, 1987, and the NCTE Act, 1993. Consequently, the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) will be dissolved and their functions subsumed under the new Commission.
Enforcement and Penalties: To curb the operation of illegal institutions, the Bill imposes a minimum penalty of Rs. 2 crore and immediate closure for universities established without proper government approval. Other violations attract graded fines ranging from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 75 lakh.
Public Self-Disclosure: All higher educational institutions (HEIs) will be required to publicly disclose their finances, audits, faculty, courses, and educational outcomes on a dedicated website, ensuring a trust-based regulatory environment.
Policy Relevance
The Bill directly impacts over 1,000 universities and 60,000 colleges by removing the burden of multiple, often overlapping, regulatory approvals.
Separation of Funding from Regulation: In a major shift aligned with NEP 2020, the power to disburse grants is being removed from the regulator and will be handled separately by the Ministry of Education, allowing the Commission to focus purely on academic standards and quality.
Focus on Outcomes: The accreditation framework shifts the focus from inputs (like infrastructure size) to educational outcomes and learner-centric performance measures.
Global Integration: The Regulatory Council is empowered to set standards for foreign universities to operate in India and to facilitate high-performing Indian universities in establishing offshore campuses, supporting India’s goal of becoming a global education hub.
Follow the full news here: THE VIKSIT BHARAT SHIKSHA ADHISHTHAN BILL, 2025