New Delhi, Nov 12 The University of Delhi’s Executive Council on Thursday passed its annual report for 2025-26 amid dissent from a member who raised concerns over the university’s reliance on loans from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), alleging that it could lead to commercialisation and undermine its public character.
Officials said the Executive Council (EC) meeting was convened to discuss the annual report for 2025-26, which was passed despite the dissent.
In a dissent note submitted by Mithuraaj Dhusiya, elected member of the EC, he flagged the university’s growing financial liabilities and questioned its reliance on HEFA borrowing for infrastructure and other capital requirements.
The dissent note stated that the university had an outstanding HEFA loan liability of approximately Rs 161.36 crore as of March 31, 2026.
It said the liability included an opening balance of Rs 46.93 crore, fresh loan releases of Rs 109.63 crore and accrued interest of Rs 4.80 crore during the financial year.
Dhusiya also objected to the university having to bear 10 per cent of the principal repayment, amounting to Rs 3.15 crore, from its internal receipts, while the Ministry of Education covers the remaining 90 per cent (Rs 28.35 crore).
The note argued that the repayment obligation could push the university towards aggressive revenue generation through increased student fees, commercial exploitation of university resources and a proliferation of self-financing courses.
It further flagged an unutilised grant of Rs 221.50 crore from the Ministry of Minority Affairs, questioning the funding model under which the university was relying on commercial borrowing despite having unspent government grants.
“DU must demand that all its expenditure be financed by grants from the government,” the dissent note said.
The members said the growing dependence on commercial loans could shift the university’s priorities from teaching and research towards debt servicing, eventually undermining its character as a public institution.
(PTI News)
