Every year thousands of students plan to go abroad for higher studies from India. According to the latest data from the Ministry of External Affairs, the number of students going abroad increased even after the pandemic broke out. More than 1.1 million Indian students were studying abroad in 2021, it said. A report by management consulting firm RedSeer estimates that around 1.8 million students are likely to opt for higher education abroad in 2024 and their spending may reach an average of $80 billion annually.