Only institutions with NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) grade points of 3.25 and a spot on the list of the top 200 institutions maintained by NBA or NIRF will be qualified to apply for a vertical university campus.
Mumbai: The state of Maharashtra has decided to approve setting up Vertical University Campus (VUC) in Mumbai and Thane due to less space available in the city thus becoming the first state in the country to approve such campuses. These campuses will function as self-financed universities and require significantly less land than traditional university setups. The approval for the VUCs was granted during a state cabinet meeting held on July 19.
This concept is adopted by the United States (US) and other Western countries. It is aimed at effectively utilising the limited available space. In the previous policy, a private university can be established on a minimum land of 25-acre in rural areas, 15-acre in district headquarters and 10-acre in regional headquarters, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR).
The state government’s proactive approach aims to provide a conducive environment for the growth of education without compromising on the city’s development goals. A crucial aspect of the vertical university campus policy is to ensure that these universities have independent buildings dedicated exclusively to academic and educational activities. The classrooms will adhere to the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It will consequently ensure quality education delivery.
“In a city like Mumbai, it is hard to get 10-acre of land and there were demands from many colleges to come up with an alternative considering which the state government has cleared a new policy for vertical university campus,” Vikas Rastogi, principal secretary of the higher and technical education department was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
The state government has made it clear the institution is required to have an independent building to establish a university where no commercial activity in any way would be allowed to conduct.
“No area of the building can be used for commercial purposes in any way. It should have a scope for further construction in case there is a rise in the number of students. The classrooms shall be set up in accordance with University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) guidelines,” states a cabinet proposal that was cleared by the state cabinet.
Who can apply for Vertical University
Only institutions with NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) grade points of 3.25 and a spot on the list of the top 200 institutions maintained by NBA or NIRF will be qualified to apply for a vertical university campus.
The introduction of VUCs was decided upon in accordance with the recommendations of two committees established over a five-year period.
Earlier in December 2022, minister of higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil said that new universities in urban areas in the state will get permission only if they build high-rises to house them. Such universities will be granted FSI based on the total land area and a study on how many floors they can reach would be conducted in order to grant permission.
Land required for a Private University
Private Universities at present require a minimum of 25 acres of land if established in rural areas. An institution if it wishes to establish a university in a Metro City then the land requirement is minimum 10 acres.
“However, to fulfil the minimum requirement of 10-acre land to establish a Private University in metro cities like Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune is next to impossible”, DHE Pune said in a notification published on its website.
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