List of Largest Universities of India - Top 10 Biggest University in India

Universities in India are either central, state, private, deemed to be, or governed by an autonomous body. If all are included together there are a total of 531 universities (in 2012) and lakhs of colleges affiliated to them.

Before we dive further let me give you a brief about central, state, deemed, and private universities. After that below is the list of largest universities by student intake as well as by campus area.

• Central Universities

Central Universities are those that are established under the act of Parliament. Out of the 42 central universities Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi rules the roost with four central universities and Andhra Pradesh coming a close second with three central universities.

The north-eastern state of Assam has two central universities namely the Assam University and the Tezpur University. Rest of the states have at least one central university with an exception to Goa which apparently does not a central university till now.

• State Universities

State universities are enacted by the state governments. They are maintained and funded by the state governments and can affiliate colleges in their jurisdiction.

• Deemed Universities

Deemed universities are those that are operated by an autonomous body, for which the status is granted by the Department of Higher Education department of the HRD ministry.

• Private Universities

Private university status is also granted by the UGC and unlike state universities they can't have colleges affiliated to them. For example, Amity University, which is a private university cannot have affiliated colleges to it. In the future private university will have to come to the fore and play a major role in providing education and with more and more competition students will also have many options to choose from.

Adjacent is the table summarizing the total number of universities and the number of IIMs, IITs, and the NITs. Then follows the list of biggest universities of India as per the student enrollment.

The list is ruled by IGNOU which is also the world's largest university in terms of student intake. IGNOU certainly has gone a long way in fulfilling its objective of providing education to all. It was founded in 1985 an within such a short period of time it has risen to tremendous heights. Rightly tagged as the People's University; the university has courses related to every field in every possible form, that is regular, online or distance education. Fees are the lowest when compared to other universities in India.

Also there are three other open universities such as Dr. Ambedkar Open University, Yashwantrao Chavan Open University and the MP Bhoj University shinning in the list.

Among them at the seventh place is the University of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay University / University of Bombay) which is is the second fastest after IGNOU in terms of student intake; within the next five years it will certainly move to the second position. Mumbai University has many colleges affiliated to it in Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai; apart from having a distance education cell.

The Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) which was divided in 2010, as the Gautam Buddha Technical University(GBTU) and Mahamaya Technical University(MTU), in this list is represented as a single entity until further data is made available.

The list has only one private university that is Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) which has been impressive right from its establishment in 1995.

Though Banaras Hindu University which is the biggest university in terms of students residing in its campus area where over 12,000 students can reside and complete their education is not listed in the first list because it has somewhat 40,000 students but it finds its place in the list of largest university in terms of campus area.

Note : The numbers given below are for their students for which the courses are conducted by the University's department and not from the colleges affiliated to it.

Except Osmania University no other universities name is common in the below list which list universities in terms of campus area. Strangely some of the universities who have vast campus area with more than 12,000 acres to 1,000 of acres do not have the number of students to back.

Some of the well-known universities in the below list are Banaras Hindu University (1350 acres), Jawaharlal Nehru University of Delhi (1,000 acres), and the Bangalore University (1,100 acres).

The numero-uno position is held by G.B Pant Agricultural Univerisity which also happens to be the first agricultural university of India. Some other agriculture university are Assam Agricultural University, Rajendra Agricultural University, and Indira Gandhi Agricultural University to name a few. Interestingly, it is also the second largest university in the world in total campus area only after Sewanee: The University of the South which has 13,000 acres.

The state of Tamil Nadu is represented by Annamalai University and Tamil University with about 1,000 and 900 acres respectively. Also there is Mizoram University to represent the north-east of India.

The sixth position is shared by three universities namely Sri Venkateshwara University, JNU of Delhi, and Annamalai University with their 1,000 acres each.

Lastly, Banasthali university comes at the tenth place with about 850 acres of campus area which is also the only women's university in the list.