New Delhi | A bill to set up a higher education regulator which will replace bodies such as the UGC and AICTE was approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday, officials said.

The proposed legislation which was earlier christened the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill has now been named as Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.

The single higher education regulator which was proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP), looks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

"The bill to set up Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan has been approved by the Cabinet," an official said.

While the UGC oversees non-technical higher education, the AICTE oversees technical education and the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education.

The Commission proposed to be set up as a single higher education regulator, but medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit. It is proposed to have three major roles -- regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards.

Funding, which is seen as the fourth vertical, is not proposed to be under the regulator so far. The autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry.