The vice-like — and tightening — chokehold of the Central and state education bureaucracy over primary and secondary education has made promotion of private greenfield schools a formidable challenge which can only be broken by very determined and persistent edupreneurs. From the stage of land acquisition, obtaining permissions from civic planners, securing electricity and water supply connections, to obtaining the all-important NOC (no objection certificate), school promoters have to get between 14-32 clearances and permissions (without time limits) from government officials/departments. Among them:

Registration as a society/trust. Profiting from education is prohibited by several Supreme Court judgements which stretch back several decades. Therefore private groups, whether a collection of like-minded people or a corporate entity promoting a school must first be registered under the Societies Recognition Act, 1860 or Public Trust Acts of the states or set up as a not-for-profit company as prescribed by s. 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Land acquisition. If the society/trust wishes to buy land from government, it will be required to obtain an Essentiality Certificate (EC) from the state’s department of education to ascertain whether a private school is required by the public in the proposed area of location.

To establish a legally permissible private primary/secondary school, the following documents are usually required by state governments:

1. Registration certificate of society/trust

2. Essentiality certificate

3. Certificate of recognition

4. Certificate of upgradation

5. Certificate of affiliation (CBSE, CISCE or state board)

6. Affidavit swearing legal purchase of land and adherence to civic Master plan

7. Site and building plans

8. Building fitness certificate

9. Health certificate

10. Water testing report

11. List of first batch of students

12. Construction completion certificate

13. Duly constituted boards of trustees and management

14. Land use permission certificate (for rented land/buildings)

15. Fire compliance certificate

16. RTE Act compliance

Local authority sanctions. Moreover, clearance certificates have to be obtained from municipal/fire/transport authorities regarding sanitary conditions, water/fire/transport safety. These certificates need to be renewed every five years.

CBSE/CISCE schools. All proposed CBSE/CISCE-affiliated schools must obtain an NOC/Recognition letter from the state government in addition to the above listed permissions.

(Source: Anand Rathi Financial Services — indicative list, approvals may vary from state to state)