The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has come out with the draft of 'National Education Policy (NEP) 2016' in April 2016. The new NEP 2016 seeks to create conditions to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and promote transparency in the management of education in the country. The policy prescriptions enunciated in the policy document are critically examined in the context of the objectives set out in the document. An attempt is made to survey some of the recommendations of the report and examine issues related to higher education in the country. The issues include financing education and the policy initiatives, language policy and higher education, accreditation and quality assurance in higher education, International linkages in higher education and autonomy of higher educational institutions. The general trend seen in the document in support of private investment and justification of moving private involvement from periphery to the centre in higher education is critically commented in the paper.