Reforms are imperative for the huge and complex technical education system in India. A recent Learning Forum brought together senior policy makers and institutional leaders that elaborated a nine-point agenda to achieve good governance, a key to successful reforms in this area. The forum agenda and this paper build upon studies summarizing generic trade-offs, challenges, and experiences, from five Indian state governments, and global failures and successes, to balance demands for greater institutional autonomy with the government’s need to direct strategic economic development and enhance participation in higher education.