Satyajit Ray's Film and Television Institute & FTII Granted Deemed University Status, Empowered to Offer Degrees and Doctoral Programs

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, and the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, have been conferred with deemed-to-be university status by the Ministry of Education. This development marks a major milestone in India’s film and media education sector.

With this new status, both institutes can now award degrees instead of just diplomas and are also empowered to offer doctoral and research programmes.

“FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata have been granted deemed-to-be university status under Section 3 of the UGC Act. The status was granted following the University Grants Commission's recommendation,” a senior official from the Ministry of Education confirmed.

The institutes will soon launch innovative academic programmes including Ph.D. courses, and will be integrated into national frameworks such as the NIRF Rankings and the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). This step aligns with the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, aimed at expanding academic autonomy, innovation, and excellence in higher education.

About FTII, Pune

Established in 1960 by the Government of India, FTII is located on the premises of the historic Prabhat Studios in Pune. Originally known as the Film Institute of India, it came under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and was renamed Film and Television Institute of India in 1971. The Television Training Wing, initially based in New Delhi, was relocated to Pune in 1974, making FTII a comprehensive training center for film and television professionals. In 2017, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) recognized six of its PG Diploma programmes as equivalent to Master’s degrees.

About SRFTI, Kolkata

Named after iconic filmmaker Satyajit Ray, SRFTI was established in 1995 in Kolkata as the second national center for cinema education under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The institute offers three-year postgraduate programmes in cinema across six specializations and two-year postgraduate programmes in Electronics and Digital Media, also with six specializations.

This university status is set to enhance the global standing of both FTII and SRFTI, ushering in a new era of opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, media professionals, and researchers.