While India has successfully established itself as one of the world's largest exporters of human capital, it is struggling to position its own higher education system as a competitive global destination. According to a recent report by NITI Aayog, the gap between outbound and inbound student mobility has widened significantly over the last decade. In 2021 alone, over 1.1 million Indian students were enrolled in overseas universities—primarily in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia—while international enrollment in India remained stagnant at fewer than 50,000 students. This "one-way corridor" highlights a systemic failure to attract global talent despite India's English-language advantage and demographic scale.

The analysis points to several structural barriers, including a limited number of globally ranked universities, rigid curricula that do not align with international credit systems, and complex regulatory hurdles for foreign students. The report further emphasizes that Indian students increasingly view education as a migration-linked investment, seeking out countries that offer clear post-study work permits and residency pathways. This massive outflow of students represents not just a "brain drain" but also a significant economic loss, as billions of dollars in tuition and living expenses flow out of the Indian economy. To reach its ambitious goal of hosting 1.1 million international students by 2047, the report argues that India must move beyond incremental tweaks and implement a system-wide overhaul to improve campus diversity, global branding, and institutional support for foreign learners.