If India has to become an economic power then it has to focus on education. There are so many attempts have been made to reform in primary and secondary levels education in schools because the higher education system serves the requirements of both the domestic as well as global economy. However focusing on higher education does not mean I am belittling the need of primary education.Both are relevant and both have importance if country has to be changed holistically. Government data suggests that only one out of every seven children born in India goes to college. So There is need to improve the quality and quantity of higher education to fill-up the faculty posts in the universities and institutions with good quality of teaching staff with skills and knowledge; revise the curriculum with quality on regular basis with relevance and flexibility to make employable the students and ultimately improve the good quality of human resources in the country. The employable manpower will increase the demand and supply of the economy and also improve the socio economic conditions by raising the per capita income of the people as well as the GDP of country as a whole. The paper attempts to focus on the various challenges currently facing the India higher education and importance of the policy reforms in this sector.

KEY WORDS: higher education, challenges, quality and excellence in teaching.