QS University Rankings Asia

India's slipping university ranks signal deep cracks in higher education quality - reforms must focus on academic freedom, research excellence, and teaching standards to stay globally competitive

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi is the best-ranked Indian institution in QS World University Rankings for 2026 by climbing up to the 123rd spot with a record 54 universities and institutions from the country making it to the coveted list. IIT Delhi has climbed more than 70 places in two years, ranking 123rd this year compared with 197 and 150 in previous two years. This has been down to outstanding results in Employer Reputation (where it now ranks 50th), Citations (86th), Sustainability (172nd), and Academic Reputation (142nd). IIT Delhi has jointly bagged the rank alongside Georgia Institute of Technology, US. While IIT Bombay slipped to 129th this year from its all-time best rank of 118 in 2025, it remains in the global top 130 and continues to score highly on Employer Reputation, ranking 39th in that indicator. The coveted QS World University Rankings, published annually by Londoon-based global higher education analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds, assess universitie

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay has retained its top position in India in the QS World University Rankings-Asia and India has surpassed China in the number of ranked universities. According to the rankings announced on Wednesday, India is now the "most represented higher education system", with 148 featured universities, 37 more than last year. It is followed by Mainland China with 133 and Japan with 96. Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal featured in the rankings for the first time. Like last year, IISc Bangalore, Delhi University and five Indian Institutes of Technology -- Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur -- have secured positions in the elite top 100 institutes in Asia. "The increasing visibility of Indian universities in the QS rankings reflects the dynamic expansion of India's higher education landscape. While the significant growth in the number of Indian institutions and their research contributions marks a noteworthy development in the region's educational .

Mumbai does best with 103rd rank on the list, gaining points for its affordability

The premier institute also continued to prove its mettle in quality research, as it emerged as the global leader in the citations per faculty (CpF) indicator in the latest rankings

IIT Bombay top ranked Indian institute in QS Asia University Rankings 2022

IIT Madras, Bombay, Kharagpur feature in top-50 ranks for petroleum, mineral & mining engineering programmes

While the best performing Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) dropped one place to the 34th position over last year, IIT Delhi dropped three to 43rd rank

The share of Indian universities in the QS World University Rankings has risen to 2.4 per cent this year, from 1.4 per cent in 2016

IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur jumped 13 and 10 places, respectively, to be ranked in the top 50 universities' rankings among Asian countries by QS