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
India's research output surges by 54 per cent from 2017 to 2022; country set to overtake UK in research productivity
Times Higher Education's (THE) World University Rankings 2024 was topped by the UK's University of Oxford followed by USA's Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mumbai ranked best student city in India due to affordability but drops 15 places in ranking compared to last year, no Indian city in top 100 cities
Latest subject rankings include 1,512 universities from 93 countries across 11 subject areas, highlighting the best countries and universities for Indians looking to study abroad
Besides IISc, a record 63 Indian institutions also made it to the list, with 14 more universities registering their presence this year
Following IISc, ranked globally in the 301-350 band, are IIT Ropar and IIT Indore which retained second and third spots among Indian institutions in the list
IIT Bombay retains its status as India's premier university by taking 172nd spot in Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings.
IIT-Bombay's mineral & mining engineering and Delhi University's Development Studies are the top-ranked programmes from India
Move part of the institute's ongoing drive to improve international rankings
Higher education needs to surmount low standards
It's the 1st time since 2012 that India didn't feature in the list
IISc retains lead as highest-ranked Indian institute, followed by debutante IIT Indore