Details about Open Universities in India

1. There are 16 open universities in India. There may be more but they may not be having UGC recognition.

2. Out of this one is a central open university and the other 15 are state open universities. Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi is the central open university.

3. Coming to the disbursement of funds to state universities from the central government, UGC will play an important role. The university will review and decide the status of the universities which are eligible to decide funds from the central government under Section 12 (B) of the UGC Act–1956. Then the UGC will disburse the amounts as per the above section to such university. UGC will sanction some teaching posts to each state university and they will fund those posts. similarly, some student scholarships will be given by UGC for PhD students. To know more about the various heads under which the state universities received funds one can refer to the above-mentioned act.

3. All the above-mentioned 16 universities are having AICTE approval and UGC recognition. There may be many other universities which are having no recognition by UGC. So we don't know the number of such unrecognised universities. The degrees given by these 16 universities are recognised by UGC. There may be some courses offered by these universities also that are not having UGC recognition. So one has to confirm the same by going through the UGC website and deciding. Otherwise, they can get the information from the university to they want to get admitted.

1) There are altogether 15 open universities running currently in our country and of these, IGNOU is the central open university initiated in the year 1985 having its name of ex prime minister late Indira Gandhi and is popularly known as Indira Gandhi National Open University and the rest 14 universities are run through the state government and are known as state run open universities.
2) As indicated above 14 universities are the state run open universities having their approval from UGC to conduct their courses and hence the aspirants would not have any problem in relation to the affiliation of these universities.
3) While talking about all the 15 universities, all are recognised through the UGC apart from AICTE approval. There might be some more universities but to ensure its validity, the aspirants should ensure themselves by going through the approved lists of the universities so that they are not entrapped in the fake ones.Moreover the aspirants should ensure that the courses offered by these institutions have their approval through the UGC since some of the courses might be there for which approval is still awaited. Hence proper verification prior to start of the course is essential.
The central Government allocates finance to run these universities and even the state run universities get their due share from the Central Government.
4) Not all the degrees/ diplomas run by these universities might not valid and the same can be verified by checking the course contents in relation to its recognition by going through their websites.

The purpose of setting the open universities was to provide the education to all those people who cannot attend the regular classes. As per the data available in the Ministry of Education website there are presently 14 approved state open universities in the country and 1 central open university that is IGNOU. For setting up an open university permission of UGC is required and a gazette notification is also carried out to authenticate that.
UGC provides assistance to these universities on case to case basis after going in detail about their courses and reach to the students. The grants are monitored and checked by the UGC in all these cases.
It is to be noted that the degree obtained from these recognised open universities is as good as any other degree and is considered valid for applying for any job position in our country.
In our country there are a large number of universities and some of them are recognised by UGC while others claim to be as deemed one or under the process of seeking permission from UGC to operate and every year so many fake and confusing universities are closed by UGC so one should be very careful and ascertain the credentials of these university from the Govt sites or UGC site or other reliable educational sites.
For the benefit of students and other persons who need this information I am giving the list of the 14 approved state open universities as below -
1. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), Hyderabad, A.P.
2. Vardhman Mahaveer Open University (VMOU), Kota, Rajasthan.
3. Nalanda Open University (NOU), Patna, Bihar.
4. Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Nashik, Maharashtra.
5. Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University (MPBOU), Bhopal, M.P.
6. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU), Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
7. Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), Mysore, Karnataka.
8. Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU), Kolkata, W.B.
9. U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU), Allahabad, U.P.
10. Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU), Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
11. Pt. Sunderlal Sharma Open University (PSSOU), Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
12. Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani, Nainital, Uttarakhand.
13. Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University, Guwahati, Assam.
14. Odisha State Open University, Odisha.

At present, there are 14 approved state open universities in the country and one central open university. IGNOU is known as a central open university which was established in 1985. All 14 state universities are run by the state government. Here is the list of 14 open universities:-
1. Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), Mysore, Karnataka.
2. Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU), Kolkata, W.B.
3. U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU), Allahabad, U.P.
4. Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU), Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
5. Pt. Sunderlal Sharma Open University (PSSOU), Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
6. Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani, Nainital, Uttarakhand.
7. Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University, Guwahati, Assam.
8. Odisha State Open University, Odisha.
9Drr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), Hyderabad, A.P.
10.Vardhman Mahaveer Open University (VMOU), Kota, Rajasthan.
11. Nalanda Open University (NOU), Patna, Bihar
12. Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Nashik, Maharashtra.
13. Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University (MPBOU), Bhopal, M.P.
14. Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani, Nainital, Uttarakhand.
As asked by you regarding the disbursement of funds to state universities from the central government, UGC has to manage everything. The university must review and check about its status and whether the university is eligible for funds from the central government under Section 12 (B) of the UGC Act–1956 or not. Then the UGC will disburse the amounts to such a university.
As far as degree and diploma validity is concerned, it is not sure that all degrees and diplomas would be valid. Before joining you have to check its validity whether the course is valid or not.