9 Indian varsities make it to top 50 in QS rankings
Nine Indian institutions were placed among the world’s top 50 universities, according to the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) subject-specific rankings released on Wednesday.
Nine Indian institutions were placed among the world’s top 50 universities, according to the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) subject-specific rankings released on Wednesday.
The rankings –– spanning 55 subjects in five broad categories such as arts and humanities, engineering and technology, life sciences and medicine, natural sciences, and social sciences and management –– also placed 79 Indian institutions among the world’s top 550 universities, up from 69 last year.
“A total of 79 Indian universities – 10 more than last year – feature 533 times across this year’s rankings, marking a 25.7% increase compared to the previous edition. This includes 454 entries in individual subjects and 79 appearances across the five broad faculty areas,” QS said in a statement.
The highest ranking was achieved by the IIT (ISM), Dhanbad – 20 in engineering-mineral and mining – with an overall score of 74.7 out of 100, a major improvement from last year’s 41st position.
“This impressive improvement from last year demonstrates our unwavering commitment to academic rigor and research excellence.. We remain focused on advancing our legacy of success and achieving even greater heights in the future,” Sukumar Mishra, director of IIT (ISM), said in a statement.
ISM Dhanbad officially converted to IIT (ISM) Dhanbad in 2016.
In the engineering-mineral and mining subject, IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur were ranked 28 and 45 respectively, down from 25 and 28 respectively last year. A total of eight Indian universities were in the top 100.
In engineering and technology, IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay bagged the 26th and 28th spots, respectively. Last year, they were ranked joint 45th. IIT-Delhi was the top ranked engineering institution in the country. A total of five Indian universities were in the top 100. This included IIT Madras (53), IIT Kharagpur (60), IIT Kanpur (72) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru (84).
“For the last several years, IIT Delhi has been working on strengthening its international collaborations. In the last seven years (2018-2024) IIT Delhi has undertaken 410 international collaborative research projects with leading universities and institutes across the globe that have helped the institute to strengthen its international research network,” said Vivek Buwa, head of the ranking cell and dean of planning at IIT Delhi.
In business and management studies, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore were the top institutions. But both saw their rankings slip – IIM Ahmedabad from 22 last year to 27 this year, and IIM Bangalore from 32 last year to 40 this year. A total of nine Indian universities were in the top 100.
In arts and humanities, University of Delhi (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were the top institutions with ranks at 160 and 177, respectively. No Indian university was placed in the top 100.
In life sciences and medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi topped with a rank of 226, improving from last year’s 249.
In natural sciences, IISc Bengaluru was at the top with a rank of 109, climbing from 137 in 2024. No universities were in the top 100.
In social sciences and management, IIT Delhi was graded the best in India with a rank of, improving from 108 in 2024. Three Indian universities were in the top 100.
QS ranked academic programmes over five indicators: academic reputation (40%); employer reputation (30%); citations (10%); H-index (10%); and international research network (10%). H-index is a measure of both the productivity and impact of published work.
India has the fifth highest number of new entries behind China, the US, UK and South Korea. India ranked 12th in the number of overall entries. Last year, India had 454 new entries and ranked 69.
“The high number of the new entries featured in the rankings is a continuation of a trend of the country’s growing higher education ecosystem, both in terms of size and quality,” QS said.