Distance education is offered by 4 universities and 34 institutes/directorates in India. All open universities have been brought under the direction of the Indira Gandhi National Open University with regard to networking and determination of grants. The networking has avoided unnecessary duplication of course preparation costs. Distance education is also offered by Correspondence Directorate/Institutes, which account for 90 percent of total enrollment. The open universities have much greater freedom to innovate courses and experiment with flexible designs. Directorates are attached to the formal university system and provide the advantage of transferability. They have not been as richly endowed by the state and should be granted both fiscal and academic autonomy. Enrollment in distance education is concentrated in certain regions of the country and in 10 of the 34 directorates. Because the demand for higher education is so great, the supply constraint determines the rate of growth of distance education. Distance education must be prepared to meet the continuing demand for conventional courses and offer certificate and diploma courses. There is a great need to develop infrastructures in the form of learning resource centers. Video production centers and high quality reading materials are also needed. (Six appendixes provide enrollment data.) (YLB)