Punjab Cabinet Approves Policy To Establish Private Digital Universities

The Punjab Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, approved India’s first comprehensive policy for private institutions to establish fully digital universities in the state on Friday. Under this

policy, private institutions can establish fully digital universities, making it a first in India, reported PTI.

“Under this policy, private institutions can establish fully digital universities in Punjab. This is India’s first such policy and so far. Only Tripura has set up a digital university, but without a comprehensive policy, so Punjab becomes the first state to provide both a policy and a model in this area,” according to an official statement.

The Punjab Private Digital Open Universities Policy, 2026, aims to regulate and promote private digital open universities offering online and open distance learning (ODL) programmes. This policy ensures quality higher education for students and creates employment opportunities, aligning with the UGC Regulations, 2020, and setting state-level standards for quality, accessibility, digital infrastructure, data governance, and learner protection.

An official statement noted that this pioneering policy will expand flexible, affordable higher education and position Punjab as a digital learning hub. This initiative benefits busy students or professionals who can complete degrees without quitting their jobs, relocating, or attending physical classrooms. The policy is timely, given the growing number of students worldwide learning from online platforms, it added.

Many students are already passing exams like JEE, NEET, and UPSC through free online lectures. In India, numerous youths are building careers through online courses and AI apps, but current university policies only allow physical campuses. This gap will be bridged with the new policy, enabling students to complete their degrees from home using a mobile or laptop, with these degrees being legally valid and compliant with AICTE/UGC standards.

To establish these digital universities, institutions will need at least 2.5 acres of land, digital content studios, control rooms, server rooms, and operational centres, along with state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, as per government guidelines. Each digital university must also have digital content creation studios, IT server rooms, an LMS operations centre, digital examination control rooms, tech-enabled call centres, 24×7 student support systems, and a minimum corpus fund of Rs 20 crore.

This ensures that only serious and capable institutions will participate. Separate bills will be introduced in the Punjab Assembly for each approved proposal, ensuring that each digital university is legally robust and transparent.

This policy models successful digital universities worldwide like Western Governors University (USA), University of Phoenix (USA), Walden University (USA), and Open University Malaysia, which have provided low-cost, modern, high-quality education to millions of students.

Punjab is now creating India’s most modern higher education ecosystem to benefit its students directly by lowering education costs, the report added. The digital mode reduces infrastructure costs, making fees more affordable with no hidden expenses.

Degree programmes will include skills such as AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing, business skills, and robotics. This approach addresses the problem of students obtaining degrees from one place and real learning from another. Now, both will be available in one place through digital universities, saving time and money by eliminating commuting, PG/hostel, stationery, or travel expenses.