Scholarships exclusively for Indians in UK

CHENNAI: The UK has launched 370 scholarships worth Rs 10 crore exclusively for Indian students. The scholarship amount is the largest ever allocated for India, and was announced on Friday as part of the ongoing GREAT Britain campaign to bolster the country's global reputation. The scholarships will be made available to Indian students applying to 260 undergraduate and postgraduate courses in engineering, law and business, art and design, biosciences and information technology in 36 UK universities. The scholarships will be tenable for the September 2014 and January 2015 student intakes. The UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency recently said there was a 25% decrease in the number of Indian students studying in UK universities in 2012-13 compared to the previous year. India is the UK's second largest source of international students, after China. The scholarships are seen as an incentive to draw students back to the UK. Announcing the scholarship and unveiling the Great Career Guide for students, Andrew Soper, economic counsellor, British High Commission in New Delhi, said that the reasons for the decline could range from the decline in the UK, Indian and global economy to tightened visa regulations. "It is quite an expensive investment," Soper said. Paul Sellers, south India director of British Council, said that an Education UK exhibition will be conducted in Chennai on February 3. Representatives from 60 UK higher educational institutions will take part in the expo.