Apart from that, smaller countries too are trying to woo Indian students. Among them is Taiwan - which at any given time has 500-600 students studying. Despite a high rate of Indian students seeking education abroad, the government does not maintain a record of those studying abroad.

Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Ram Shankar Katheria informed parliament that since studies abroad was a matter of individual will and choice, “information regarding the number of Indian students going abroad or the expenditure incurred thereon are not maintained by the ministry.”

According to the European Union, India has the second highest number of internationally mobile students, after China, travelling abroad for tertiary level education. Between 2000 and 2009, the count of Indian students in Europe increased from 3,348 to 51,556. The total number of Indian students in the US shot up 28 percent to over 1.3 million, comprising the second largest foreign student body in America after China, according to a new report published last month by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security.

As per the recent Assocham study “New overseas destination for Indians students”, more than 85,000 Indians went abroad in 2005 and the count shot up to 290,000 in 2013. This, according to Assocham estimates, costs India a foreign exchange outflow of 15 to 20 billion dollars per annum. According to Richard Everitt, director-education, British Council, Indian students applying for undergraduate courses in the UK continue to grow owing to a “conducive environment” they get to study and live in.

“Over 90 percent of postgraduate students in the UK rate the quality of teaching positively and the satisfaction rate for students has hit a 10-year high - with 86 percent saying they are satisfied overall with their course, as per National Student Survey (NSS),” Everitt said.

Madhulika Sen, Principal, Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar, said that students demand education which is “intellectually stimulating”. “Also, look at the percentage needed to get into a good college here. So, is it not better to give Scholastic Assessment Test and other tests and get into top level universities abroad which give preference to a child’s co-curricular as well?” she asked.