Central University or Union University in India

A Central University or a Union University in India is established by Act of Parliament and are under the purview of the Department of Higher Education in the Union Human Resource Development Ministry. In general, universities in India are recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. In addition, 15 Professional Councils are established, controlling different aspects of accreditation and coordination. Central universities, in addition, are covered by the Central Universities Act, 2009, which regulates their purpose, powers governance etc., and established 12 new universities. The list of central universities published by the UGC includes 46 central universities as on 20 May 2015.

The types of universities controlled by the UGC include:

• State universities are run by the state government of each of the states and territories of India, and are usually established by a local legislative assembly act.
• Deemed university, or "Deemed-to-be-University", is a status of autonomy granted by the Department of Higher Education on the advice of the UGC, under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.
• Private universities are approved by the UGC. They can grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus affiliated colleges.

Apart from the above universities, other institutions are granted the permission to autonomously award degrees. These institutes do not affiliate colleges and are not officially called "universities" but "autonomous organizations" or "autonomous institutes". They fall under the administrative control of the Department of Higher Education. These organizations include the Indian Institutes of Technology, theNational Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, the Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management (though these award diplomas, not degrees), the National Law Schools, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and other autonomous institutes.

The regions with the most central universities in India are Delhi (namely University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, IGNOU),South Asian University and Uttar Pradesh with Five central universities each. There are central universities in all of the states of India except Goa and Andhra Pradesh. Of the union territories, there are central universities in Delhi and Puducherry.