New Delhi: Central Universities are one of the popular destinations for students due to quality education and affordability factor. In India, there are 799 universities as on 31 March 2016. Out of these 799 universities, 47 are Central Universities (CUs), which are set up by the Central Universities Act. These universities are regulated and governed by the Central Universities Act, 2009.
In India, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have the highest number of CUs with five each. University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), IGNOU, and South Asian University are based in Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh the five central universities are as followed: Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Allahabad University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University. There are central universities in all of the states of India except Goa and Andhra Pradesh. Of the union territories, there are central universities in Delhi and Puducherry.
Central Universities are established by an Act of Parliament and at present, there are 47 Central Universities in the country. The University Grants Commission (UGC) provides both Development (Plan) and Maintenance (Non-Plan) assistance to Central Universities under various schemes/programmes. At present 40 Central Universities are being provided Plan (Development) Grant and grant under other specific schemes of the UGC. 24 Old Central Universities including 3 newly converted Central Universities and one Medical College are receiving Maintenance Grant from the UGC.
Seven Central Universities, namely (i) Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Manipur (ii) Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (iii) Indian Maritime University, Chennai (iv) South Asian University, New Delhi (v) Nalanda University, Bihar (vi) Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University, Uttar Pradesh and (vii) Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh are not funded by the UGC.
Out of CUs, the University of Allahabad is oldest, which was established in 1887. Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi is the largest residential university in Asia. Jawaharlal Nehru University is the top ranked university among CUs in the university category of the NIRF-India Rankings Report 2017.
List of Central Universities funded by the UGC:
1 University of Allahabad
2 Banaras Hindu University
3 Aligarh Muslim University
4 Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University
5 University of Delhi
6 Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya
7 Visva Bharati
8 The English and Foreign Languages University
9 Jawaharlal Nehru University
10 North Eastern Hill University
11 Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
12 University of Hyderabad
13 Manipur University
14 Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya
15 Pondicherry University
16 Rajiv Gandhi University
17 Tripura University
18 Jamia Millia Islamia
19 Assam University
20 Tezpur University
21 Nagaland University
22 Maulana Azad National Urdu University
23 Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya
24 Mizoram University
25 The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University
26 Sikkim University
27 Central University of Gujarat
28 Central University of South Bihar
29 Central university of Tamil Nadu
30 Central University of Rajasthan
31 Central University of Punjab
32 Central University of Orissa
33 Central University of Kerala
34 Central University of Karnataka
35 Central University of Jharkhand
36 Central University of Kashmir
37 Central University of Jammu
38 Central University of Himachal Pradesh
39 Central University of Haryana
40 Mahatma Gandhi Central University
