On Nov 17, the state cabinet approved the guiding principles for the establishment of cluster universities by educational institutions in Maharashtra. Several educational institutions in Pune and other areas of the state have warmly received the state’s decision.

The National Higher Education Mission has encouraged the transformation of educational institutions into cluster universities. As of now, there are three cluster universities in the state, including Dr. The universities are Homi Bhabha State University in Mumbai, Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate University in Mumbai, and Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil in Satara.

“The premier college should be of autonomous status for at least five years, or the college should have a minimum 3.25 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) rating of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) or equivalent National Board of Accreditation (NBA) score or 50 percent of the total courses should be accredited by NBA. Seven posts, including the vice-chancellor and the registrar, will be created for the smooth running of the University. For this, an amount of ₹1 crore will be given to the university by the state government for the first five years,” said Chandrakant Patil, state higher and technical education minister.

The purpose of promoting cluster universities is to reduce the burden on the state universities, create a strong network of educational institutions and provide more opportunities to students, an official from the state higher education department said. The Maharashtra state Governor will appoint the vice-chancellors of these group universities as the chancellor. These universities will remain public universities.