The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, 2025 , is scheduled for introduction in Parliament during the upcoming winter session. This legislation aims to create a single regulatory body, the HECI , which will replace three major existing authorities: the University Grants Commission (UGC) , the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) , and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) . A significant aspect of the proposed bill is the exclusion of funding powers for higher education, a point that caused controversy in an earlier 2018 draft.
HECI’s New Structure and Role
The HECI will establish three distinct verticals. These verticals will handle accreditation, overall regulation, and the framing of learning outcomes across all higher educational institutions in the country. This consolidation aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 , which advocated for a unified regulatory framework for higher education.
Currently, the UGC oversees universities nationwide. Technical institutes, including engineering and standalone management colleges, fall under AICTE’s purview. Teacher education institutions are regulated by NCTE . The HECI will absorb these regulatory functions.
Exclusion of Funding Powers
A central feature of the HECI Bill 2025 is its exclusion of funding from the commission’s powers. This mirrors a contentious aspect of a 2018 draft bill, which also proposed repealing the UGC Act without granting the new body funding authority. Opponents of the 2018 draft argued that funding powers should reside with a neutral regulatory body driven by academic expertise, citing that funding decisions are often academic exercises requiring monitoring by regulators.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has previously discussed this aspect. Officials indicate that the funding of institutions will not be part of the HECI Bill , and the three verticals will focus on their specific regulatory functions.
Current Funding Mechanisms
Presently, the UGC provides grants to central universities and private universities recognized under specific sections of the UGC Act . AICTE offers financial assistance to technical institutes through various schemes, excluding Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) . NCTE does not directly fund teacher education institutions.
The Anusandan National Research Foundation (ANRF) is expected to become a primary funding agency for the government. In November 2024, ANRF launched the ‘Partnership for Accelerated Innovation and Research (PAIR)’ scheme to boost research capabilities in public universities and institutions. The government also operates the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) , which provides infrastructure loans to educational institutions, though these loans have yielded mixed results.
Impact on Professional Councils
The HECI Bill 2025 is expected to redefine the roles of several professional education councils. This includes bodies like the Council of Architecture (COA) , Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) , Indian Nursing Council (INC) , and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) . While these councils will continue to exist, their function will likely shift from granting approvals and affiliations to acting more as professional bodies setting quality education standards.
However, the legal and medical professions will remain outside HECI’s jurisdiction. The Bar Council of India regulates law education, and the National Medical Commission (NMC) oversees medical education. In 2021, the government also established the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professional (NCAHP) to regulate allied and healthcare professions.
Parliamentary Concerns
A parliamentary panel, led by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, previously voiced concerns that the proposed HECI structure could lead to the closure of institutions in rural areas. The panel noted that institutions suffering from infrastructure or faculty shortages could be disproportionately affected, potentially fueling privatization within the higher education sector.