The Indian Council for Cultural Relations runs India's government scholarship programme for international students, delivered as a set of named schemes that each serve a group of countries and share one application portal.
The award pays tuition and the institution's admissible charges, a monthly stipend that rises with degree level, a monthly house rent allowance of INR 6,500 in Grade I cities or INR 5,500 in other cities at all three degree levels, and an annual contingent grant of INR 5,000 for undergraduates, INR 7,000 for postgraduates or INR 12,500 for doctoral students. Doctoral students receive a one-time INR 10,000 thesis allowance; undergraduate and postgraduate students receive INR 7,000 only if their course requires a project report. Air travel is not guaranteed across the board: it is provided only for schemes whose terms include a return air ticket home on successful completion, and only after the course is finished; other schemes require the student to arrange and pay for their own travel. Health insurance is the student's own responsibility; ICCR requires at least INR 500,000 of cover, purchased at the time of arrival in India.
Applications go through the A2A Scholarships portal only, once per academic year, with up to five course choices. Universities confirm provisional admission, and the Indian Mission in the applicant's country makes the final selection against that country's allotment.
Medicine, paramedical courses, law and integrated courses such as BALLB are excluded, and courses must run for at least a year.
Allowance amounts and payment frequencies verified on 19 September 2026 against section 13 (page 9) of the ICCR 2026–27 university guidelines. The housing columns span all three degree levels; contingent grants are annual and thesis allowances are one-time payments.