Indian Network for Internationalisation of Higher Education (INIHE) is a consortium of universities and other higher education institution in the country which primarily aims at facilitating the internationalisation of higher education in terms of networking, collaborations in teaching and research, mobility of students and faculty, exchange programmes, etc. This is a pioneering initiative of Association of Indian Universities (AIU) in the direction of promoting the internationalisation of higher education by providing a structured platform to the universities and other HEIs dedicated to the internationalisation of higher education in Indian universities. INIHE will ensure the connect and coordination among associations of universities of different countries, promote collaboration among foreign universities, and facilitate joint degrees and student exchange programmes.

The proposed consortium can serve the purpose in terms of bringing together multiple organisations and institutes, both public and provide in a collective platform to address a common set of goals and concerns within a structured format and under a predetermined governance structure. Their independence outside this collaborative group offers multiple and diverse perspectives through which the members can learn much from mutual experiences and practices.

The initiative is necessary as India, despite having good educational institutions, fails to attract enough foreign students. Hardly around 50,000 foreign students chose India as their academic destination a year. Over half of them are from neighbouring Nepal and Afghanistan, whereas a sizeable number of students from India go abroad for pursuing their education. The establishment of INIHE consortium is also envision to fill this void and address this concern regarding the mismatch in inflow and outflow of students.

Foreign students face a number of challenges when applying for higher education in India, starting from searching for relevant academic programmes; absence of a standardised admission process; uncertainty about eligibility and equivalence of the degrees acquired in the resident country; concerns about fee, medical insurance, and safety; and lack of infrastructure.

INIHE shall commit its resources to quality research, capacity building, information sharing, and to advocate the benefits of internationalisation and build a better understanding of higher education internationally.