President inaugurates BRICS universities summit

President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday inaugurated the Times Higher Education BRICS and Emerging Economies Summit at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Although Indian universities do not find a place among the top institutes of higher education in various global rankings, many universities in India have the potential to become world-class universities, Mukhehrjee said in his address.

To compete with the best in the world, universities need to have high-quality teachers and students, considerable autonomy and robust governance structure, besides providing an environment of cutting-edge research and having international orientation, Mukhehrjee pointed out at the summit organised by London-based Times Higher Education in collaboration with O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat.

Phil Baty, editor, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, said 16 Indian universities have found place among the top 200 universities in the latest BRICS and Emerging Economies Rankings 2016 list.

"Indian universities have made considerable progress and is at number three after China and Taiwan among the BRICS and emerging nations," Baty told IANS on the sidelines of the three-day summit themed "Why Emerging Economies need World-Class Universities".

The detailed list will be made public on Thursday during the summit at JGU.