South Asian University

Government has approved the tabling of a bill in parliament to create a South Asian University (SAU).The university is expected to commence functioning in the second half of 2010 with 5,000 students and a postgraduate academic programme.India had proposed SAU's establishment at the 13th SAARC Summit held in Dhaka in November 2005 to provide world-class facilities and professional faculty to students and researchers from SAARC countries.An Inter-Governmental Agreement for establishing the university was signed at the 14th SAARC Summit in April 2007. The SAARC member states also decided that the university would be established in India.The SAARC member states have already set up a Project Office for the university that India is funding for two years.It will also be the first international university to be set up in India and would have branches of learning in other SAARC member states.