$150bn needed for India's education sector

In the next 10 years India's education sector needs investment worth $150 billion. India will need 1,000 more universities and 45,000 more colleges  to cater to an estimated 40 million students by 2020.This was revealed by  Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal who also called for "collaboration" from the Indian diaspora to strengthen the sector.
Addressing the ninth Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, Sibal said the way to India's double-digit growth is not to increase the per capita income but by "creating a critical mass of people in the education system for the country to reach its true potential". However, this growth plan will need quality education infrastructure. Sibal said the biggest challenge the government faces is the accessibility of quality education. While the gross enrollment ratio in the US is 70 per cent, China's meets the global average of 23 per cent. India stands at only 12.4 percent. The government plans to increase it to 30 per cent by 2020.
Giving light on the government's efforts to improve the quality of Indian education, he said that bills such as the Foreign Universities' Bill and the National Accreditation Authority for Higher Education Bill, once passed, "will open the growth path further".