For years, the Indian export ecosystem has witnessed the outflow of various critical resources, but the most important among them all has to be the outflow of our scholars. Going by the available data, an estimated 28% of Indian-origin academician have reported to experience at least one international move, with 73% never returning to India after moving abroad. A big reason behind the latter group’s decision is understood to be better citation impact, as well as an increase of almost 30% in collaboration with international researchers, revealing a deeper, fundamental brain drain problem across India’s research fabric.
But what is brain drain? Well, it’s an exodus of talented professionals, driven by limited growth potential. Turning our attention towards the causes of this brain drain issue in the Indian context, they include, for starters, a restrictive amount of domestic employment opportunities. According to PLFS October 2025 data, employment-to-population ratio in India currently stands roughly in the ballpark of 52.5%. Even if you land a job here, the odds of being paid as per the global standards remain minimal. Driving that point home is a piece of data revealing how Indian engineering and data professionals were hit with a significant pay drop to $22,000 in 2025, a figure dramatically lower than US’ average payout of $150,000. Beyond the individual-level concerns, one of the main reasons why India has struggled to attract the scholars’ contingent is rooted in the systematic issues spanning our research landscape. This directly translates to gross underfunding, never-ending bureaucratic delays, substandard infrastructure, weak IP protection, and plenty other factors, each one chipping in to make research and innovation a dreadful task. In case that wasn’t enough, these issues are further joined by various socioeconomic challenges, lack of upward mobility, and generally just a low quality of living.
Having referred to the problem of brain drain, we must also touch upon a slight reversal of the same in recent times, a reversal leading the nation towards brain gain rather than its destructive alternative. As for what is leading this shift, the answer is headlined by India’s emergence as the world’s fifth-largest economy. Despite the shrinking global growth, the story of India’s improving prospects has proven to be factual time and time again. In fact, led by comprehensive upskilling programs from modern institutions like CGC University, Mohali, the country is now on track to become the world's third-largest economy by 2030 and second-largest economy in the Asia-Pacific region. Such a proposition, like you can guess, really goes the distance to attract scholars who aspire both personal and professional growth. The next factor guiding India towards brain gain is its commitment to make education affordable. You see, unlike Western countries where university fee and the wider cost of living has reached an unbearable point, India is tapping into leaders like CGC University, Mohali, to enhance the accessibility aspect of learning. Apart from the cost, these institutions are also scaling the academic quality in play by collaborating with esteemed counterparts from across the world, thus providing world-class education with a more local-conscious cost structure.
Another ingredient in India’s recent rise to prominence revolves around the growing recognition of our nation’s educational ideology, an uptick led by tech icons like Sundar Pichai (Alphabet), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Shantanu Narayen (Adobe), Arvind Krishna (IBM), and many more. This recognition is further backed by a Ministry of Education survey, where it was revealed that well over 46,800 foreign students from 170 different nations are currently pursuing their studies in India. Aiding the country’s pursuit of soon attracting 200,000+ students, CGC University, Mohali, has implemented a full-fledged Global Connect Program, which is designed to help international students enjoy full-time degree programs, semester exchange facility, and summer/winter school programs etc.
Hold on, we are not done yet, considering we haven’t yet unpacked the role regulatory support is playing in inviting the Indian scholars back from abroad. A possible example here relates to Indian government’s all-new flagship program, focused on attracting Indian-origin “star faculty” and researchers working in the cream of global universities and research institutions. Targeting 12-14 distinctive domains, the program offers a particular appeal for established Indian-origin scientists and academics with significant achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). For these experts, the government will provide a substantial one-time “set-up grant” to establish the necessary infrastructure, along with a red-carpet ecosystem. The ecosystem in question will address logistical and administrative challenges like housing, institutional support, project funding, and other such bottlenecks typically faced by Indian returnees. Making things even better would be the government’s emphasis upon light-touch oversight, which will enable the returning scholars to avail complete operational freedom and clearly define intellectual property ownership structures. Similar to the said program, the Indian leadership has launched a Ramanujan Fellowship (DST). Understood to be the Department of Science & Technology’s scheme, this effort essentially hands you a competitive monthly fellowship, research support, and the opportunity to apply for supplementary extramural grants. The Indian Govt. has even introduced a Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) where the idea is to incentivize top domestic PhD students with competitive fellowships for retaining talent within India’s universities.
Rounding up the list of India’s brain gain catalysts is the transformative AI vision put forth by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi. So far, Mr. Modi has already unveiled many groundbreaking AI-focused initiatives, such as India AI Summit, to ensure an AI-for-all approach and a Viksit Bharat
Markedly enough, we referred to the core components that are pretty much orchestrating India’s brain gain advantage, but what we haven’t covered yet is the benefits one can expect from such a monumental transition. For instance, it can lead to knowledge transfer at a scale bigger than what we have seen so far. In simple terms, brain gain won’t just bring personnel back into the Indian fold, but, at the same time, it will also bring cutting-edge knowledge and global best practices to give the nation a smarter edge. This includes meaningful advancements across new-age domains like AI, robotics, data science, cloud computing, sustainability, biotech, legal tech and eDiscovery, as well as fintech. Almost like an after effect, the given development can be expected to contribute significantly towards financial growth, as it can effectively pave the way for smarter commercialization of research, patent filings, and tech development. On top of that, internationally-experienced talent can do a world of good when the agenda is to win investors’ confidence, while eliminating the need to employ costly foreign consultants. Apart from that, the countries that are walking firmly upon their brain gain curve also stand a chance at securing better soft power, resulting in the stature of an intellectual leader and stronger diplomatic muscle for future tie-ups.
As the Managing Director of CGC University, Mohali, I can proudly say that our organization has been right at the forefront of India’s push to fine-tune its academic prospects. This is made wholly evident by an extensive course line-up which covers everything from modern-day engineering and business management practices to advanced computing and healthcare. Building upon that, these programs are enhanced by our strategic tie-ups with leading corporate houses, including Capegemini, IBM, EY, OS-SCI, and KPMG etc. Interestingly, they are also assisted by the organization’s tie-ups with more than 300 universities in 70+ countries.