Higher education: Empowering business organizations with academic industry interface

India's higher education system is the world's third largest in terms of students, next to China and the United States. Unlike China, however, India has the advantage of English being the primary language of higher education and research. India educates approximately 11 per cent of its youth in higher education as compared to 20 per cent in China. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission (India), which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Universities and its constituent colleges are the main institutes of higher education in India. As of February 2017, there are 789 universities, 37,204 colleges and 11,443 stand-alone institutions in India, as per the latest statistics from the UGC website. Higher education is necessary for all round development of human beings. It was not previously within the reach of everybody. There were large sections of masses which were deprived of it and even in countries where there was education, there were still many issues with getting it to the general public. Advances in technology have helped education to become more readily available than it once was. Inventions such as the online class room and education TV Channels have improved education in a significant way and it is growing around the world every day. However, higher education institutions/ schools have a special place, not only because education and ‘skill creation’ are among their prime explicit objectives, but also because quality higher education promotes sustainability. Sustainability is something that improves the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems. The environment that businesses operate today has key issues to be appropriately negotiated within economic, political and legal frameworks, as well as the impacts of social, cultural and technological developments. With increasing globalization, the challenges are international. To meet the complex challenges effectively, organizations need knowledgeable workforce and innovative sustainable practices. Only the learning organizations can be effective for sustainability, for which education is a major catalyst. Sustainability is the capacity to endure with potential for long–term maintenance of well–being. Innovative sustainable practices are essential to create enduring business for the benefit of the customers and stakeholders including the society. Education and learning along with practices of pioneering sustainability strategies play key role in meeting challenges of contemporary business environment. With this perspective in mind, the present paper tries to highlight the role of higher education on the success and sustainability of business organizations. At the end of the paper, efforts will be made to find out the major challenges higher education institutions are facing for the development of human resources who can contribute significantly for the sustainability of business.