Most GIFT City foreign-university students from Gujarat, Maharashtra; weigh job opportunities against cost

GANDHINAGAR: Kranali Shah, 26, drives from Ahmedabad to GIFT City, spending close to two hours daily on commute. Shah is pursuing a Masters in Business Analytics at Deakin University’s GIFT City campus where she is one of 10-12 students who travel daily from Ahmedabad.

While the programmes are offered by offshore campuses of international universities, outside the university building, the experience is more Gujarati than anything else. Students don’t live on university campuses or even in GIFT City itself, which is prohibitively expensive, but on its edges, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. Let alone diversity of nationality and culture, the majority of the 52 students enrolled in the two Australian university campuses in the city – Deakin and the University of Wollongong (UoW) – are from within Gujarat or neighbouring Maharashtra.

While the commute is a hassle and the stay difficult, they are more than made up for by the opportunities to “network”, say students. Passing CEOs, even of international companies, are often invited to deliver lectures and masterclasses. They might join students for meals and overtime – helped by the low roll-strength, no doubt – even start remembering their names. For students of industry-aligned professional programmes, these connections matter more.

Hailing from Mumbai, Mukesh Iyer, 26, highlighted that being at GIFT City affords them enviable networking opportunities. "The Australian and New Zealand COO would be walking to lunch with us. He would know the students by their names. This is something many students find fascinating and are proud of,” said Mukesh Iyer, 26. From Mumbai, Iyer is a student at UoW.

Academia360 visited Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT)-City to report on the first two foreign universities to set up offshore campuses in India. This is the second of a three-part series. The first part looked at the one-year journey of Deakin University and UoW in GIFT City. Part three will look at the people responsible for overseeing the universities’ operations.

Inside GIFT City

In the middle of May, when Academia360 visited, GIFT City’s most startling feature was the heat. The temperature was 38 degrees Celsius but the ‘real feel’ was 45 degrees.

GIFT City, right now, is a construction site. Its 240 acres of SEZ land has seven-eight complete high-rises with several more buildings under construction. But for this clutch of buildings and construction sites, it’s barren and without vegetation. It's part of the Sabarmati riverfront extension project and locals say the river has been blocked to allow for construction.

The immediate surroundings of GIFT City are deserted. “The surrounding area does not have any residents and Gandhinagar starts four to five km from GIFT City,” said Shah. The nearest hospital is 8 km away.

For stay, many students rely on residences around the Pandit Deendayal Energy University, JMD Nursing Institute and other institutions outside of GIFT City; these are usually cheaper.

Study-abroad degrees at GIFT City

Most students at the two Australian universities had plans of going abroad for their masters. They said they learnt of Deakin University and UoW from social media, advertisements or acquaintances employed at GIFT City.

Cerin Elsa Joji, 23 and pursuing a Masters in Finance Technology at UoW, echoed Iyer on networking. “In GIFT City, we are surrounded by corporations which is an advantage for us,” she said.

“From our batch, one to two students were offered internships recently. In our typical university spaces, we used to have different sorts of events to interact with the people. However, they were just recruiters and not experts working in the industry. Over here at UoW, it's different because we can directly talk to the industry people. All this has given students much more clarity on the trends and processes in the industry.” Joji is also from Ahmedabad.

GIFT City Costs: ‘Exhausted all my savings’

GIFT City offers no social life or recreation beyond the GIFT City Club. Delivery services like Blinkit, Swiggy and Zomato are always available but students complain that both food and stay are more expensive.

That said, the cost of an education in a GIFT City campus has been weighed against the costs of an actual education abroad. Satya Vaibhav from Chennai explained why he chose Masters in Cyber Security at Deakin. A BTech Computer Science graduate, his “initial plan was to study abroad”. When a family emergency – he didn’t elaborate on it – put paid to those plans, he cast about for opportunities in India, including work ones. “During engineering, I had an interest in cyber security and had taken up electives on ethical hacking. After finding out about Deakin University, I am now saving Rs. 60-70 lakh,” he said.

Living costs vary widely and many rely on student residences that surround other universities.

“If you want a luxurious service department you can always go to Bliss Serviced Apartment within the GIFT City which charges around Rs. 30,000- Rs 40,000. Many students are sharing these apartments to cut down the costs. The flats also have food and cleaning services. Then there are hostels and PGs for students outside the city, near the PDEU. They charge about Rs. 15,000 per month, including air-conditioned rooms, gym, cleaning, transport and food as well. The transport cost is Rs. 6,000 for six months. While the buses are available, most students have their vehicles as buses come at specific times,” explained Vaibhav.

Deakin, UoW: Curriculum, Australia connect

For many students, the individual attention made possible by small class sizes, as well as the wide use of the latest technology are the standout features. “We use smart TVs and smart boards with many faculties flying in from UoW’s Dubai campus,” said Joji.

Students highlight the value of one-on-one conversations with faculty and industry professionals. “There have been days in my undergraduate college, Pune University, where there would be around 100-200 people in our class and we did not get an opportunity to shake hands with any speakers. Here at UoW, I can ask a lot of questions and connect with speakers and faculty on a personal level. Students like that,” said Iyer. But he added more ruefully, “We do miss [having] more people on campus. It's always nice to see a lot of people.” He’s in a batch of nine.

Deakin’s programmes have a “core unit” every trimester as part of which, external faculties – Indians or visiting – teach on a weekly basis. The other three units are electives which are taught online, from the Australian campus. In fact, the mothership exercises a large degree of control. “These systems [are] directly implemented with regulations and rules from Australia,” said Vaibhav. “So, whatever is happening there is happening here, including curriculum, but with a different environment and limited courses.”

If students need counselling, that service is offered from the Australian campus as well.

UoW, Deakin University: Placements, live projects

In May, seven students from Deakin secured pre-placement paid internship roles at NAB Innovation Centre – India, Gurugram. Shah expects an average package of around Rs 13-15 lakh once she’s placed. Further, students from both Masters in Business Analytics and Cyber Security have been placed in live projects for their industry exposure.

At UoW, internships and placements will happen from next year, January or February 2026.

Jobs can come from within GIFT City or outside.

“Both our administration and students are confident about placements because FinTech is a niche field which is not highly populated like the engineers or MBA jobs. We are sure we will be at the forefront of the sector,” said Joji.

GIFT City: IFSC rules, lack of multidisciplinarity

Hamstrung by IFSC regulations on courses and curriculum, the offerings at the GIFT City campuses are limited. Students would have liked to have more options.

Iyer disagreed, maintaining that the universities offer multidisciplinary education too but went on to list themes allied to the finance sector. “We are covering multiple things,” he insisted. “We have covered corporate finance, investing and cryptocurrency trading, which are separate branches altogether. Also, all this allows us to explore the multiple disciplines that are there in fintech at least.”

GIFT City ‘vertical campus’

Nimay Kalyani, director of University of Wollongong’s India campus, thinks the “vertical campus” – a single building without much open outdoors space – is also a new feature the GIFT City duo has introduced.

“We have always looked at universities with sprawling campuses, abuzz with students, with a lot of social and creative activities…. But then these institutes also have vertical campuses very close to the business districts – a trend that is not very evident in India and very new for an Indian student,” he said. For instance, he explained, the business districts of Singapore or cities like Melbourne and Sydney, comprise not only local universities but international universities. “This is the future because we are running out of space. The world population is growing at such a high pace that now the future will look like a vertical campus,” he said.

A GIFT City official added that social infrastructure, in the shape of a central utility park, riverfront and other developments, is in the pipeline. “In terms of the social environment for students, there is already a club in existence where we have good sports and recreational facilities with good restaurants already within the city,” he said. “As for specific facilities for students, they are in development stages, but we are developing all the necessary infrastructure to attract students and to fulfil the needs and requirements of the students. Our focus is on their overall well-being – mental and physical –along with employment generation.”