International Legal University Planned for Amaravati; Bill Passed in Assembly

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh will soon have a prestigious centre for legal education with the establishment of the India International University of Legal Education and Research in Amaravati.

Education minister Nara Lokesh on Friday tabled a bill on the university in the state assembly, which was passed unanimously. It would be sponsored by the Bar Council of India Trust.

The government has allotted 55 acres of land in Amaravati on a nominal lease for the university, which will commence admissions from the academic year 2025-26.

Lokesh also presented the Andhra Pradesh Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Andhra Pradesh Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the assembly, which were also passed unanimously.

The assembly also approved Lokesh’s proposal to organise a Children’s Assembly on November 26, the Constitution Day. “This initiative will instill awareness among children about how legislatures function, making them realise that democracy is not just about rights but also about responsibilities,” he said.

The minister informed the house that governor Abdul Nazeer had personally taken an interest in the setting up of the prestigious law university in the state.

Lokesh said the university would not be confined to undergraduate legal education alone but would emerge as a hub for postgraduate and research programmes, including Ph.D. It would also have associate institutions such as an Arbitration Centre, Mediation Centre, a Consultation Centre for Continuing Legal Education, and a Judicial Training Centre.

He said 20 per cent of the seats would be reserved for local students, with reservations being implemented as per central government norms.

Minister Lokesh recalled, “The Bar Council of India set up the first National Law School of India University in Bengaluru in 1986, which became a model law institution. Following this, it was resolved in the 1993 Chief Justices’ Conference that every state should have a law university. Under the BCI Trust, IIULER was first established in Goa, and top judges from the Supreme Court and high courts are members of the trust’s board.”

The earlier 2016 Act had permitted private universities under the greenfield and brownfield categories. However, the YSRC government, through Act 40 of 2023, restricted entry by imposing a condition that private universities must compulsorily tie up with the top 100 global institutions for joint certification degrees, he said.

“This provision discouraged world-class private universities from coming to AP, with many shifting to neighbouring states,” Lokesh observed.

The present amendment removes this clause to make way for reputed international universities. “We want private universities of global standards that can also spur research, startups, and specialised curriculum development aligned with industries,” Lokesh said, citing examples like Singapore’s subject-specific universities.