The General Cultural Scholarship Scheme (GCSS) is one of the most important and popular schemes of the ICCR for foreign students. Scholarships are awarded under this scheme annually to international students belonging to certain Asian, African and Latin American countries for the undergraduate, postgraduate degrees and for pursuing research at Indian universities. However, scholarships for medical studies for MBBS, BDS or for medical research leading to a Ph.D. degree are not offered under the GCSS scheme.

A list of countries covered under the GCSS is given below: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Cambodia, Comoros, Fiji, Tuvalu (Fiji), Guatemala, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Slovenia, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkmenistan, UAE, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Botswana, Congo, Ethiopia, Djibouti Gambia (Senegal), Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi (Zambia), Maseru, Mauritius (MSS) (GCSS), Morocco, Mozambique, Swaziland, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe.