A total of four central universities have been shortlisted for finalizing to become the hub or the location from where National Digital University will operate. These include- the top-ranked Indian institute as per the NIRF ranking - IIT Madras, Delhi University (DU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

According to reports, there have been ongoing discussions at the Ministry of Education (MoE) and within the University Grants Commission (UGC) that the new digital university will be established in the next academic session. It will be introduced in a “hub-and-spoke" model with degrees awarded by the NDU and sought-after programmes offered by top universities and colleges.

The digital university will also offer unique courses. Moreover, exams and assessments for students enrolled in this varsity will be given in a variety of formats. The admissions are likely to commence in June next year. However, the admission criteria and other processes are yet to be decided.

A senior official at the Ministry of Education told TOI that further discussions to finalise one of the aforementioned higher education institutions as the ‘hub’ will be held later this month. “Each of these universities comes with their own strength such as the technical edge the IIT will provide in delivering the programmes or the experience of large operations for the likes of BHU or DU,” said the official as per the newspaper.

To provide world-class quality universal education to students across the nation, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union budget on February 1 this year, proposed the setting up of a digital university.

In September during the ’13th Global Skills Summit,’ Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Education Minister, stated that the government has begun the process of establishing a digital university with multiple entries and exit frameworks.