Lovely Professional University

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Lovely Professional University
Other names
LPU
Motto
"Transforming Education Transforming India"
TypePrivate
Established2005 (2005)
ChancellorAshok Kumar Mittal[1]
Vice-ChancellorJaspal Singh Sandhu
Academic staff
2066[2]
Students34,871 (2024)[3]
Location
Chaheru, Phagwara
,
Punjab
,
India[lower-alpha 1]

31°15′13″N 75°42′13″E / 31.253609°N 75.70367°E / 31.253609; 75.70367
CampusRural
Colours  Orange
AffiliationsUGC, AIU, PCI, NCTE, COA, ACBSP, ACU, ICAR, BCI,
Websitewww.lpu.in

Lovely Professional University (LPU) is a private university located in Chiheru, Phagwara, Punjab, India.[5][6] Established under the Lovely Professional University Act, 2005, it commenced operations in 2006.[7][8]

Governance[edit | edit source]

The university's founder and chancellor is Ashok Kumar Mittal, with his wife Rashmi Mittal as the pro-chancellor.[9]

Academics[edit | edit source]

LPU has schools on various subjects including business, fashion design, engineering, law, education, agriculture, humanities, and tourism.[10]

The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes across multiple disciplines. Its academic offerings include programmes in engineering and technology, management, law, agriculture, education, architecture, pharmacy, design, humanities and social sciences, among others.[10]

Affiliations[edit | edit source]

The Lovely Professional University is affiliated and recognised by national facilitators such as the University Grants Commission (UGC),[11] the Pharmacy Council of India,[12] and the Bar Council of India.[13][14]

LPU's School of Agriculture is accredited by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.[15] It has accreditations and memberships of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA),[citation needed] Council of Architecture (CoA),[16] and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).[17]

LPU is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.[18] The distance education programmes are approved by the UGC's Distance Education Bureau.[19]

Rankings[edit | edit source]

University rankings

In the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, LPU secured the 49th position overall. NIRF ranked Lovely Professional University 31st among universities.[20] It also ranked 44th in management, 13th in pharmacy, 48th in engineering, 26th in law and 24th in architecture ranking in India.[21]

LPU ranked 501–600th band in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 901–950 in the QS World University Rankings in 2026.[22][23]

Protests[edit | edit source]

2022 student protest[edit | edit source]

In September 2022, students at LPU staged a protest following the death by suicide of a first-year Bachelor of Design student. Police said a suicide note recovered from the student's room referred to personal issues. The student had previously studied at the National Institute of Technology Calicut and the note named a professor there; police subsequently registered a case against the professor for alleged abetment to suicide and formed a special investigation team.[24][25]

Students gathered on campus and demanded an investigation. Police deployed additional personnel to the university during the protests.[26]

2026 student protests[edit | edit source]

In September 2026, LPU became the site of large student protests after claims circulated on social media alleging that a female student had been sexually assaulted on the university campus and subsequently died by suicide. The claims were initially unverified, and police said they had not initially received a complaint concerning such an incident. The university denied the allegations and described them as false and unverified rumours.[27][28]

The protests began near a girls' hostel and later spread across the campus and to the Jalandhar–Phagwara section of NH-44. Protesters damaged university property, set some objects and vehicles on fire and blocked the highway. The confrontation with police later involved stone-pelting and a police lathi charge, with several police personnel reported injured.[29][30]

Police subsequently said that a rape case had been registered against an unknown person based on a complaint and that a special investigation team had been formed. Investigators said they would examine forensic evidence, CCTV footage and call records. As of 28 September 2026, authorities had not publicly established whether the alleged assault had occurred on the university campus.[31]

Following the violence, LPU suspended regular classes for 10 days from 28 September and postponed its mid-term examinations until further notice. Students were permitted to return home in consultation with their parents or guardians, while those remaining on campus were advised to stay in their hostels or residences.[32]

The highway blockade lasted for more than 15 hours before traffic was restored. Police said the situation was subsequently brought under control, while a large police contingent remained deployed around the university.[33]

Controversies[edit | edit source]

Faculty member's remarks about Lord Ram[edit | edit source]

In April 2022, LPU dismissed assistant professor Gursang Preet Kaur after a video circulated on social media in which she made comments about the Hindu deity Rama. The university said that the views expressed were personal and that it did not endorse them. The context of the remarks in the video was reported as unclear.[34][35]

Enforcement Directorate searches involving Ashok Mittal[edit | edit source]

In April 2026, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at premises linked to LPU founder and chancellor Ashok Kumar Mittal as part of an investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The searches covered business and residential premises in Punjab and Haryana and included premises associated with Lovely Professional University and other educational institutions linked to Mittal. According to officials cited by the Press Trust of India, the investigation concerned overseas financial transactions involving the educational institutions.[36][37]

2026 response to sexual-assault allegations[edit | edit source]

During the September 2026 protests, LPU released a video featuring three female students from the hostel where the alleged incident was said to have occurred. The students initially stated that no rape had taken place in their room. The students later alleged that they had been coached or pressured to appear in the video and that portions of their statements had been edited. The university's earlier denial and the subsequent allegations concerning the video became part of the wider dispute surrounding the protests.[38][39]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ The campus is situated in Chaheru of Phagwara Tehsil, 8km from Phagwara railway station.
  2. ↑ The campus is situated in Chaheru, Phagwara Punjab, Pincode 144411, a village. Therefore the campus falls under the rural category.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Meet our founders & leaders". Lovely Professional University. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  2. ↑ "SSR Information Sheet, Page 14".
  3. ↑ "NIRF Application" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "SSR Information Sheet".
  5. ↑ "Lovely Professional University Ranks Among the World's Best Universities". www.usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report.
  6. ↑ "Exploring the Wonders of Lovely Professional University". classhud.com. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "University grants" (PDF). ugc.gov.in. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "The Lovely Professional University Act, 2005" (PDF). 5 May 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Newsmaker | Mr Mittal goes to Parliament: The Lovely ride from a shop to House". The Indian Express. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "LPU Schools and Department List". schools.lpu.in.
  11. ↑ "State-wise List of Private Universities" (PDF). www.ugc.ac.in. University Grants Commission. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Approved Degree institutions u/s 12". www.pci.nic.in. Pharmacy Council of India. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ↑ "Statutory Body Constituted under the Advocates Act, 1961" (PDF). lpu.in. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "Status of NAEAB Accredited Agriculture Universities/Colleges" (PDF). Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "List of approved Institutions". coa.gov.in.
  17. ↑ "NRC Recognized Institutions (PUNJAB)". ncte.gov.in.
  18. ↑ "ACU members". www.acu.ac.uk. Association of Commonwealth Universities. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  19. ↑ Distance Education Bureau (18 October 2018). "Commission decision" (PDF). Letter to Lovely Professional University. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  20. ↑ "NIRF 2024: Punjab's private varsities Chandigarh University, LPU take top slots; IIT Ropar slips to 48". The Indian Express. 13 August 2024.
  21. ↑ "MoE, National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF)". NIRF. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  22. ↑ "Lovely Professional University". Times Higher Education (THE). 1 March 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "Lovely Professional University (LPU)". Top Universities. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  24. ↑ "Kerala student dies by suicide at LPU; NIT Calicut prof booked for abetment". The Indian Express. 22 September 2022.
  25. ↑ "Student's suicide sparks massive protest at university in Punjab's Phagwara". India Today. 21 September 2022.
  26. ↑ "Massive protest in Punjab's Lovely Professional University after first-year student dies by suicide". The Times of India. 21 September 2022.
  27. ↑ "Violence over sexual assault claim in LPU, university denies incident". The Indian Express. 28 September 2026.
  28. ↑ "Punjab's Lovely Professional University Suspends Classes, Postpones Mid-Term Exams Amid Unrest". NDTV. 28 September 2026.
  29. ↑ "LPU row escalates: Police lathicharge students, stones pelted, vehicles set ablaze". The Times of India. 27 September 2026.
  30. ↑ "2,000 cops deployed, classes suspended for 10 days: Lovely Professional University protests spiral into violence". The Times of India. 28 September 2026.
  31. ↑ "LPU protest: NH-44 in Phagwara reopened after 15-hour blockade; situation under control". Moneycontrol. 28 September 2026.
  32. ↑ "Punjab's Lovely Professional University Suspends Classes, Postpones Mid-Term Exams Amid Unrest". NDTV. 28 September 2026.
  33. ↑ "LPU protest: Traffic on NH-44 restored, situation under control, say police". Hindustan Times. 28 September 2026.
  34. ↑ "Punjab: Lovely Professional University sacks faculty member for 'insulting' Lord Ram". The Indian Express. 24 April 2022.
  35. ↑ "University Sacks Professor For Alleged Offensive Remark Against Lord Ram". NDTV. 25 April 2022.
  36. ↑ "ED raids premises linked to AAP MP Ashok Mittal, who replaced Raghav Chadha as Rajya Sabha deputy leader". The New Indian Express. 15 April 2026.
  37. ↑ "ED raids against AAP MP Ashok Mittal linked educational institutions". The Week. 15 April 2026.
  38. ↑ "Students Deny 'Rape' In Video Released By Punjab's Lovely Professional University, Then Call It Scripted". NDTV. 27 September 2026.
  39. ↑ "Students say 'no rape incident happened' in LPU video, then allege it was scripted". The Times of India. 28 September 2026.

External links[edit | edit source]

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