Summary
The scholarship provides financial support to NRI and PIO students from 69 countries
Students must have cleared their Class XII examinations with a minimum of 60% marks from an AIU-recognised system
Registration for the external affairs ministry’s Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) is open till November 30.
The ministry is awarding 150 scholarships to children of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) / persons holding Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), Non-resident Indians and Emigrant Clearance Required (ECR) workers’ children who have studied in or outside India this year. The scholarship is available for only first-year students seeking admission to undergraduate courses in India. A total of 50 scholarships have been reserved for each category.
The SPDC scholarship was introduced in 2006-2007 to provide financial assistance to children of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-resident Indians (NRIs) for pursuing undergraduate courses in India. The ECR category was added in 2015-2016. The ECR countries include Yemen, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Oman, Malaysia and other such countries. The scholarship was started to promote India as a centre of higher education.
Students receive 4,000 US dollars a year to support expenditure such as tuition fees, hostel fees and other fees during their course of study in Indian institutions and universities. The scholarship is given out only for a few selected professional and non-professional undergraduate courses in Humanities, Journalism, Hotel Management, Engineering, Technology, Arts etc. The scholarship will help students to study in various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) etc.
Students must have cleared their Class XII examinations with a minimum of 60% marks from an education system that is recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
Students whose parents’ monthly income is less than or equal to 5,000 US dollars are eligible to get this scholarship, but they will be selected on merit only. The scholarship will be renewed for students in the second year and subsequent years after reviewing their performance in the first academic year.
One can apply for the scholarship by visiting the official website spdcindia.gov.in.
Last updated on 25 Nov 2021
