Governance in higher education answers three questions: who decides, who pays, and who is accountable. In India the answers are split: the Centre and the states share responsibility, the UGC and state governments fund different parts of the system, and accreditation and rankings supply accountability from outside.
Worked example: A state university wants funds to upgrade laboratories. Under RUSA, the centrally sponsored scheme for state higher education, it applies through its State Higher Education Council, and the Centre and the state share the cost 60 : 40 for general-category states (90 : 10 for North-Eastern and hilly states). The ratio is the point most often asked — and the reason the scheme is described as centrally sponsored rather than central: the state pays a share.