After the revival of Nalanda and the rise of Ashoka, Krea, and Plaksha, Pravaha joins a growing list of universities that are trying to rewrite the script of Indian higher education – not through state-backed machinery, but backed by collective philanthropy and global benchmarking. Then there are also efforts to revive the ancient names of Vikramshila, Odantapuri, and Takshashila (Taxila).
But unlike Nalanda, Vikramshila, Odantapuri, and Takshashila, Pravaha is not an ancient name. Pramath Raj Sinha, the founding dean of the Indian School of Business and one of the founders of Ashoka, said Pravaha evokes flow – of students, ideas, and careers – and aims to position Bihar not as a hinterland of low enrolment, but as a laboratory for a new kind of university. Sinha, who is a key leader behind Pravaha, added that Pravaha will be Bihar’s first globally-benchmarked university.
Learnings from Nalanda
Nalanda University was revived in 2010 with the passing of the Nalanda University Act. But execution has been slow, with the resignation first of chancellor Amartya Sen in 2015, and then of George Yeo in 2016. It was only in 2026 that Nalanda celebrated its second convocation, attended by the President of India Droupadi Murmu.
On learnings from Nalanda, Shreyasi Singh, founding managing partner of Jetri – the firm involved in the execution of Pravaha – said that apart from partnerships for setting up a new university, what is also needed is ‘founder energy’. “The founders need to provide ‘that energy’ to make things happen,” Singh said.
An education analyst told FE that Nalanda suffered from grand designs without a clear roadmap, but Pravaha – starting with a fellowship – can avoid that fate. To ensure this, the institution has laid out a roadmap: launch of a fully-funded, one-year postgraduate Pravaha Fellowship (August 2027) as a pathway to the university, and campus under development in Vaishali, Bihar, with a transition to a full university by 2029.
Learnings from Ashoka
Singh said a big learning set came from the success of Ashoka University. “Just like Ashoka started Young India Fellowship, Pravaha is starting Pravaha Fellowship, a one-year post-graduate programme, with a curriculum integrating high-demand sectors including tech, AI & data, business & leadership, design, and entrepreneurship,” she said.
The inaugural cohort of 50 fellows, starting in August 2027, is expected to enter the workforce with starting salaries exceeding Rs 10 lakh. “Ashoka built its brand in the National Capital Region, and Pravaha is attempting to build one in Bihar – a state with a youth bulge, growing digital access, but still a higher-education participation rate below the national average,” she added.
Why Bihar?
Bihar’s higher education ecosystem has been dominated by legacy state universities and scattered private colleges, and apart from IIT Patna (19th in Engineering, NIRF 2025) and IIM Bodh Gaya (31st in Management), no university/college could find a place in the NIRF rankings.
As far as starting a university in Bihar is concerned, Singh said there are challenges. “Bihar is not able to keep its own high-potential students, forget about attracting students from the rest of the world. That flow has to change,” she said.
New versus old
Can new-from-scratch universities innovate faster than legacy institutions?
Prof M Jagadesh Kumar, chairman, Review Committee for NEP 2020, Ministry of Education, and former chairman, UGC, argues that the impact depends on how seriously a university adopts reform. “Any university committed to implementing NEP 2020 reforms can choose to transform itself.
The difference is not whether institutions are legacy or new, but whether they treat reform as compliance or as an opportunity to change,” he said. “Older universities use their scale to align with reforms, while newer ones are still developing faculty ecosystems and industry ties. Ultimately, what matters is leadership, quality culture, and the willingness to use regulatory reforms creatively.”