NSW Premier Chris Minns has used the opening of Western Sydney University’s new campus in Greater Noida to make the case for deeper education and economic ties with India, saying the relationship between the two countries had considerable room to grow.
Minns officially launched the university’s Indian campus on Monday during the first day of his visit to New Delhi, accompanied by NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and senior Australian officials. The opening was held at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, with scholarships also announced as part of the event, according to the Premier’s official media schedule.
The campus gives one of NSW’s largest universities a permanent presence in India and is part of Western Sydney University’s expansion of teaching and research beyond Australia. The university says its Greater Noida operation will offer Australian-accredited degrees and work with Indian government, industry and research partners.
Speaking at the opening, Minns described Western Sydney University as an institution built around access to education and social mobility.
“It is an incredible institution that has, as its remit, one of social justice and empowerment through education,” Minns said.
He said the university had long offered students opportunities regardless of their background and that its identity would now extend to India.
“That red Western Sydney University badge, which we see common as residents of Sydney, will be now right here in India, with the same values and the same principles,” he said.
Minns pointed to India’s goal of lifting participation in higher education among young people, arguing that Australian universities could play a role in meeting the country’s growing demand for tertiary education.
“I’ve been struck by the Indian government’s stated target of having 50% of young people enrolled in higher education by 2035. It’s an ambitious but important target, and this is something that Western Sydney University can be integral in delivering that goal,” he said.
The Premier also used the speech to defend the importance of face-to-face teaching at a time when technology is changing how students learn.
“There is something wonderful about a teacher or a professor at the front of that classroom seeing something in a student that they perhaps don’t see in themselves, something that you cannot get from an app or a computer or a website, something that only a direct relationship between the teacher at the front of the classroom and the student can provide,” Minns said.
Western Sydney University received formal approval from India’s University Grants Commission in 2025 to establish a foreign branch campus in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The university says its teaching will cover areas including business and leadership, financial technology and digital innovation, agriculture, sustainability and water, and data science and emerging technologies.
“The relationship between Australia and India is a strong one, and it is close. But there’s more. There’s more for it to go. There are more opportunities, economic opportunities between the two countries in the future”
The university has had research and institutional links with India for years, including work with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research on agriculture, water and food security. It has also developed partnerships with Indian Institutes of Technology and other research bodies.
Minns said the value of the campus went beyond its immediate educational and commercial role.
“The relationship between Australia and India is a strong one, and it is close. But there’s more. There’s more for it to go. There are more opportunities, economic opportunities between the two countries in the future,” he said.
“I think the reason it will meet its full potential is because we’ll have a generation of young Indian kids and a generation of young Australian kids with closer connections in the future.”
His remarks place education alongside trade and investment as a central part of the NSW government’s India strategy. Two-way merchandise trade between NSW and India was valued at $6.87 billion in 2024-25, while more than 28,000 Indian students study in NSW.
The visit also follows the NSW government’s launch this month of its India Business Literacy Program, initially focused on helping agrifood and clean energy businesses understand the Indian market and develop commercial relationships.
Minns told the Greater Noida gathering that NSW had an economy larger than several countries and was increasingly looking towards technology and other emerging industries alongside its established strengths.
“We haven’t relied on a single source of export potential. We’ve had a nimble workforce that’s been focused on the fastest-growing communities and economies in the world, and looked at places where we can be more compatible with each other,” he said.
He linked that economic outlook to NSW’s Indian community, saying the state was home to about 200,000 Australians of Indian heritage.
The campus opening forms part of a busy first day of Minns’ India program. His schedule also includes meetings on energy transition, critical minerals and high-tech metals, as well as meetings with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The day is due to end with a reception hosted by Australian High Commissioner Philip Green at the Australian High Commission.
Minns said institutions such as Western Sydney University could help create the personal and professional connections on which a stronger bilateral relationship would depend.
“The sky’s the limit, both in the relationship, in Western Sydney University’s future, and in broader and stronger economic connections between Australia and India,” he said.
“But it will start at institutions like this and grow into bilateral free trade agreements between the Prime Minister of Australia and the Prime Minister of India. You don’t get to that final point without making the investment that you’ve made today.”
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