Education Industry

Brief Introduction

The late Nelson Mandela once said, “No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.” Education plays an important part in the building of a nation. The Indian government realises its significance and hence has taken several initiatives and reforms over the years to impart education and instil the values of secularism, equality, respect for democracy and self-belief among its youth.

According to the rankings released by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), 17 Indian universities have made it to the list of top 300 universities in the Asian continent. Also, the topmost Indian management institute, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has been globally ranked the fourth-best overall among 20 leading B-schools, according to the Economist.

The education sector in India is at a vital stage of its growth. The vast diversity in ethnicities coupled with varying demographics has prompted different players to invest in the sector. Meanwhile, the upward surge in the Indian economy and consequent increase in income levels has aided the spending on education in the average Indian household.

Market Size

It is expected that the Indian education sector’s market size will increase to Rs 602,410 crore (US$ 100.23 billion) by FY 15 from Rs 341,180 crore (US$ 56.77 billion) in FY 12, due to the expected strong demand for quality education.

The present Indian higher education system comprises of about 700 universities and over 35,500 colleges. More than 85 per cent of these students are enrolled in bachelor's degree programmes and about one-sixth of all Indian students are enrolled in Engineering/Technology degree programmes.

To increase the percentage of students going for higher education to 30 per cent by 2020, India will need 800 more universities and another 35,000 colleges, according to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).

Education has long been receiving the major wallet share of the Indian middle class. The education...