Australia will hold an annual ministerial dialogue on education with India to facilitate better understanding between the two countries on the sector in the wake of a spate of racial attacks on Indian students Down Under.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who returned here after a visit to India, said Australia would explore options for local universities setting up campuses in India.

"I actually was able to strike a positive agreement with the Indian Government that we will have a annual ministerial dialogue on education, including in that dialogue representatives of our universities and our business community and representatives of the Indian universities and Indian business community," she said.

"It is a big opportunity for us in circumstances where India has a huge thirst to grow its education system and in part is contemplating that growth being through foreign providers like Australian providers going to India and setting up shop, so a big opportunity for us there," Gillard said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said during her India visit, she reassured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal that Australia was a safe place for Indian students.

"They accepted as representatives of the Indian Government that Australia had appropriately responded to support Indian students when they're in this country and we do welcome around 100,000 Indian students each year," she told ABC radio.

"If there are opportunities for our education providers to build on the collaborations they already have with Indian universities and provide education in India, then that is clearly a big opportunity for us, not only in the sense of earning export dollars but in the sense of giving people an exposure to Australians, to Australian ways of doing things, to Australian perspectives," Gillard said.

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