These three terms get thrown around interchangeably in college brochures, but they answer three genuinely different questions — and mixing them up is one of the easiest ways to misjudge an institution.
Recognition — "Is this a legitimate university at all?"
A university needs to be established either by an Act of Parliament (Central University), an Act of a State Legislature (State University/State Private University), or declared a "Deemed-to-be-University" by the UGC under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. A college, meanwhile, is recognised by being affiliated to a university under Section 2(f)/12B of the UGC Act. This is the baseline legitimacy question — does this institution have the legal standing to admit students and award degrees at all.
Approval — "Is this specific programme allowed to run?"
For technical education (engineering, management, pharmacy, architecture and more), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approves specific programmes and intake numbers at specific institutions each academic year. For medical education, the National Medical Commission (NMC — which replaced the Medical Council of India in 2020) approves MBBS/MD/MS seats, and the National Dental Commission performs the equivalent role for dental education. This is a yearly, programme-specific and seat-specific approval, separate from the institution's overall recognition.
Accreditation — "How good is it, according to an independent evaluator?"
Accreditation is a voluntary, external quality assessment — it does not determine whether an institution can legally operate. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accredits institutions as a whole (grades from A++ down to C, or "Not Accredited"). The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) accredits individual programmes rather than the whole institution — so a university could have a strong NAAC grade while only some of its specific programmes hold current NBA accreditation, or vice versa.
Why this matters practically
A "recognised" institution is not automatically "accredited," and a high accreditation grade does not substitute for confirming a specific programme's regulatory approval for the year you're applying. Always check all three independently for the specific institution and programme you're considering — EduAspire lists what has actually been publicly disclosed for each, and states plainly when something is not publicly disclosed rather than assuming it.