India occupies a significant position in the global education sector. One of the world's largest networks of institutions of higher learning is found in India. With almost 27% of India’s population in the age group of 0-14 years, India’s education sector provides numerous opportunities for growth.

The Number of colleges in India reached 49,385 in FY24 (as of September 13, 2023) and 43,796 in FY21, up from 42,343 in FY20. The number of universities in India reached 1,196 in FY24 (as of September 13, 2023), up from 760 in FY15.

India had 41.38 million students enrolled in higher education in 2020-21 with 21.2 million male and 20.1 million female students, as against 38.5 million students enrolled in higher education in 2019-20, with 19.6 million male and 18.9 million female students. In FY21, Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Indian higher education was 27.3%.

The education sector in India was estimated to be worth US$ 117 billion in FY20 and is expected to reach US$ 225 billion by FY25. The Indian edtech market size is expected to reach US$ 30 billion by 2031, from US$ 700-800 million in 2021.

The online education sector in India is growing rapidly, with growth of US$ 2.28 billion expected during 2021-2025, at a CAGR of almost 20%. Higher education institutes in India are focusing on creating online programmes due to the increasing demand from consumers.

From April 2000-March 2023, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow in the education sector stood at US$ 9.2 billion, according to the data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

India’s large English-speaking population allows easy delivery of educational products. India was ranked 48th out of 112 countries in the English Proficiency Index 2021. Nine Indian institutes - the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) - were among the top 500 universities in the QS World University Rankings 2023. A total of 100 Indian institutions have been qualified for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023, with the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru being the highest-ranked.

Edtech startups in India raised US$ 296 million across 5 deals in October 2022.

Amazon launched its global computer science education initiative in India. The aim of this initiative was to offer one lakh students the opportunity to study computer science. Amazon India also launched the second edition of Machine Learning (ML) Summer School, with the aim to provide students the opportunity to learn important ML technologies from Amazon scientists, making them ready for careers in science.

To liberalise the sector, the Government has taken initiatives such as the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill for Higher Educational and the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill. The government schemes of Revitalising Infrastructure and System in Education (RISE) and Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP) are helping the government tackle the prominent challenges faced by the education sector.

The National Education Policy (NEP), which will be fully implemented over the course of this decade starting from 2021-22, will have a strong focus on high-quality vocational education. Under the National Education Policy 2021, the government will set up regional and national institutes for virology, >15,000 schools, 100 new Sainik schools, and 750 Eklavya model residential schools in tribal areas.

In August 2023, Union Minister of Education Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan unveiled the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF), which has been developed based on the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 vision. As per that, in order to guarantee that students have adequate time and opportunity to perform successfully, board exams will be offered at least twice a year.

The Central Government approved the “New India Literacy Programme” for the period FY22-27 to cover all the aspects of adult education to align with the National Education Policy 2020 and Budget Announcements 2022-23.

The National Commission for Women started a country-wide capacity building and personality development programme for women undergraduate and postgraduate students in an effort to make them more independent and job-ready. The commission will partner with central and state institutions to prepare women students for the job market by providing sessions on personal capacity building, professional career skills, digital literacy and effective use of social media.

STEM-based edtech companies have been  partnering with Niti Aayog and the government to build a STEM ecosystem by establishing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) to spread knowledge about STEM, STEAM, AI, ML, and robotics for K-12 students.

In September 2023, a three-year partnership called "Education to Entrepreneurship: Empowering a Generation of Students, Educators, and Entrepreneurs" was launched by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Meta in New Delhi.

The education sector has seen a host of reforms and improved financial outlays in recent years that could possibly transform the country into a knowledge haven. With human resource increasingly gaining significance in the overall development of the country, development of the country’s education infrastructure is expected to remain the key focus in the current decade. In this scenario, infrastructure investment in the education sector is likely to see a considerable increase.