Strategic collaboration to combine global expertise and skills insights with on-ground policy consulting capabilities across central and state government engagements

New Delhi: QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited (QS), the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, and insights to the global higher education sector, and Primus Partners Private Limited, one of India’s foremost management consulting firms specialising in strategic advisory and policy implementation, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a formal consulting and advisory collaboration in India.

The MoU was signed at a ceremony held in New Delhi and formalises the two organisations’ intent to jointly identify, pursue, and deliver high-impact consulting mandates across the government sector in India. The collaboration draws on QS’s globally recognised expertise in higher education rankings, benchmarking, and internationalisation, and Primus Partners’ deep track record in education, skilling, and public policy consulting across India.

The partnership is designed to address some of the most pressing priorities in India’s education and skilling ecosystem. In the government sector, the two organisations will jointly advise central and state ministries on higher education reform and institutional accreditation frameworks  aligned with India’s ambitions under the National Education Policy. On skilling and workforce development, the collaboration will bring together QS’s global labour market intelligence and Primus Partners’ on-ground implementation expertise to support state governments, skill development missions, and industry bodies in building future-ready talent pipelines.

The partnership will leverage QS’s globally trusted data alongside Primus Partners’ established relationships with government stakeholders and its track record of delivering complex, multi-stakeholder policy engagements across India.

“India’s skilling and innovation agenda is moving at remarkable scale and matching that ambition takes both global perspective and deep local execution. Our partnership with Primus Partners unites QS’ global insight into emerging skills and workforce transformation with Primus’s ability to turn strategy into outcomes on the ground – helping governments build talent that is globally competitive and locally transformative.” 

— Dr Ashwin Fernandes, Chair, QS India & Vice President, Strategic & International Engagement, QS Quacquarelli Symonds

“At Primus Partners, we have long believed that India’s education and skilling transformation requires both rigorous policy thinking and world-class benchmarking. This MoU with QS is a natural coming together of two organisations that share that conviction. Whether it is supporting a state government design a skilling mission, helping a university chart its internationalisation roadmap, or advising a ministry on higher education reform, our combined capabilities will allow us to deliver programmes that are truly differentiated — grounded in evidence, informed by global best practice, and built for Indian contexts.”

— Charu Malhotra, Co-Founder & MD, Primus Partners