India postpones IND-SAT exam for international students due to coronavirus; new dates to be announced soon

• The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) has postponed the IND-SAT exam in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
  
• The exam, which was scheduled to take place on May 30 will now be held in July.
  
• However, the new dates haven’t been announced yet.
  
• This comes after many international students, planning to study in India, requested to reschedule the examination.

The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) has postponed the IND--SAT exam in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The exam, which was scheduled to take place on May 30 has been deferred.

Union Cabinet Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal took to Twitter to announce that the exam will now be held in July 2020. However, the new dates haven’t been announced yet. This comes after many international students, planning to study in India, requested to reschedule the examination.


India introduced the IND-SAT (Indian Scholarship Assessment Test) exam under the ‘Study in India' programme. This was announced during the annual budget session on February 1 by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In this regard, the government said that the IND-SAT exam will enroll Asian and African students — including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kenya, Mauritius and Nepal — in Indian universities. This will mirror the SAT and GMAT exams of the US which are used to enrol foreign students.

The programme announced last year, focussed on bringing foreign students to study in India’s higher education institutions. The scores of the exam will facilitate scholarships for students based on merit.