137 Indian institutions in QS rankings but none in top 50

India failed to place in the top 50 of the QS Asia University Rankings 2026, despite a rise in institutions, with IITs showing significant declines.

New Delhi: No Indian higher education institution has secured a place in the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026, released on Tuesday even as the country added 137 institutions to the rankings — the second highest after China’s 261.

137 Indian institutions in QS rankings but none in top 50

Even those within the top 100 — including five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) — have seen sharp decline in their rankings compared to previous years, as universities in Malaysia, China, South Korea, and Singapore continue to outperform them.

The 17th edition of the QS Asian University Rankings features 1,529 universities from 25 higher education systems, including 558 new entrants. China (Mainland) added 261 institutions to reach 395, regaining its position as the most represented system after two years, while India added 137, taking its total to 294, the second highest. India’s representation has surged from 24 universities in 2016 to 294 in 2026—a remarkable 1,125% increase, compared to China’s 273% rise. A total of 19 universities achieved their highest-ever ranking, including Chandigarh University, BITS Pilani, Shoolini University and O.P. Jindal Global University.

“Glad to see a record increase in the number of Indian universities in the QS Asia University Rankings over the last decade. Our Government is committed to ensuring quality education for our youth, with a focus on research and innovation. We are also building institutional capacities in this sector by enabling more educational institutions across India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.

In rankings, India’s top 10 institutions range from IIT Delhi at 59 to IIT Guwahati at 115. Five IITs — Delhi, Madras, Bombay, Kanpur, and Kharagpur — have recorded their lowest positions in the last five years, while public institutions such as IISc Bengaluru and Delhi University have also slipped. Chandigarh University, the only private institution in the group, improved to 109th, up from 120th last year and 149th in the previous edition.

“The entry of over 130 Indian universities into this year’s Asia Rankings is a strong signal of depth as well as breadth. As research ecosystems mature and international partnerships scale, India is positioning itself not only as a study destination but as a global knowledge leader shaping innovation, inclusion and sustainable growth across Asia,” Jessica Turner, CEO, Quacquarelli Symonds said in a statement.

For the assessment, QS evaluates universities on 11 indicators, including academic and employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, international research network, citations per paper, papers per faculty, staff qualifications (PhDs), and the share of international faculty, students, and exchange participants.

In the QS Asia University Rankings 2025, IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay were the only two Indian institutions to feature in the top 50, ranking 44th and 48th, respectively. However, in the 2026 edition, both have seen their positions drop below 50 despite an improvement in their overall scores — IIT Delhi rose from 75.4 to 78.6, and IIT Bombay from 73.1 to 75.

IIT Delhi, which remains India’s top-ranked institution for the second consecutive year, has slipped 15 places to 59th this year, compared to 44th in 2025. Between 2021 and 2025, its rank consistently ranged between 44 and 47. Similarly, IIT Bombay has fallen 23 places to 71st in 2026, after ranking 48th last year and between 37 and 48 during 2021–2025.

“Rankings are inherently dynamic, as an institution’s position depends not only on its own performance but also on how other universities perform in the same cycle. Although both IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay improved their overall scores this year, several other institutions across the region achieved even greater gains. As a result, despite their progress, the relative position of these IITs declined compared to last year,” said Ben Sowter, QS senior vice president, in response to HT’s queries.

In the QS Asia Rankings 2026, universities from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Singapore dominate the top 10, with the University of Hong Kong taking the top spot, followed by Peking University (China) in second. The National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) share the third position.

IISc Bengaluru has slipped two places to 64th in 2026, down from 62nd last year, continuing a gradual decline from its best rank of 52nd in 2023. IIT Madras has dropped 14 places to 70th this year, after ranking 56th in 2025, and remaining between 50 and 54 during 2021–2024. IIT Kanpur has fallen 10 places to 77th, compared to 67th last year, and has generally ranked between 63 and 72 over the past five years. IIT Kharagpur has recorded a steep fall of 17 places to 77th, down from 60th in 2025, after maintaining ranks between 58 and 61 from 2021 to 2024. Delhi University has slipped 14 places to 95th, from 81st in 2025, continuing its fluctuating trend between 71 and 94 in recent years. IIT Roorkee has dropped six places to 114th in 2026, after ranking 108th last year, with its position ranging between 103 and 116 since 2021. IIT Guwahati has also fallen 11 places to 115th, from 104th in 2025, and has consistently ranked between 111 and 124 over the past five years.

While IITs continue to perform strongly in academic reputation, employer reputation, staff with PhDs, and papers per faculty — scoring in the 80s and 90s — they lag significantly in internationalisation and research visibility. The institutes have low scores on the international student ratio (ISR), ranging from 2.5 (IIT Kharagpur) to 12.3 (IIT Roorkee), compared to global top-10 universities that score a perfect 100 on this metric.

Indian institutions have also slipped on citations per paper — a key measure of research impact — with IIT Delhi (31.5), IIT Bombay (20.0), and IIT Madras (20.3) well below other Asian universities that score above 90. Similarly, on the faculty-student ratio, scores range from 16.5 (IIT Kharagpur) to 40.9 (IIT Delhi), reflecting larger class sizes and resource constraints compared to top Asian universities, which score in the 80s and 90s on this indicator.

“Despite these gaps, India outperforms China in four of eleven indicators, demonstrating areas of clear comparative strength amid ongoing efforts to internationalise and expand research influence,” QS said in a statement.

India outperformed China on four metrics– papers per faculty, staff with PhD, international research network and inbound exchange students. According to QS, five Indian universities secured place in Asia’s top 10 for research productivity and 28 in the top 50 and India is best in Asia for staff with PhDs, with 45 Indian institutions in top 100.