More than half of India’s ranked universities improved their position in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with 18 institutions achieving their highest-ever positions as gains increasingly spread beyond the country’s elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
The rankings feature 52 Indian universities, up from just 14 a decade ago, making India the world’s fifth most represented higher education system behind the US, UK, mainland China and Germany. Over the past decade, India’s presence in the rankings has grown by 271% – the fastest proportional increase of any G20 nation.
Some 26 Indian universities improved their position this year, nine remained stable, 15 declined and two entered the rankings for the first time.
At the top of the table, IIT Delhi climbed to 118th globally, matching the highest position ever achieved by an Indian institution, a record previously set by IIT Bombay in 2025. IIT Bombay ranked 134th, followed by IIT Madras at 170th, IIT Kharagpur at 205th, and IIT Kanpur and IISc Bangalore, which were jointly ranked 221st. University of Delhi remained India’s highest-ranked non-STEM institution at 322nd globally.
However, the most significant trend this year was the widening distribution of rankings success beyond the IIT sector.
Among the strongest performers were Vellore Institute of Technology, which rose 94 places to 597th globally, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, which climbed 93 places to 575th, and Shoolini University, which entered India’s top 10 after rising 51 places to 452nd. Chandigarh University climbed 49 places to 526th, while Jamia Millia Islamia advanced more than 75 places to 686th.
According to QS, 13 of the 18 institutions reaching all-time high positions this year were non-IIT universities. The number of ranked non-IIT institutions has increased from seven in 2017 to 43 today, while ranked institutions now span 19 states and union territories compared with just nine a decade ago.
Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the results reflected the impact of reforms introduced under National Education Policy 2020.
“India’s strong performance in the latest global university rankings reflects the transformative impact of NEP 2020, with 52 universities across 19 states and union territories now represented and more than half improving their positions,” said Pradhan.
“As institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology Delhi achieve record-high rankings, India is emerging as a leading global knowledge hub, driven by research, innovation and the talent of its youth.”
The rankings also highlighted areas where Indian universities are increasingly competitive internationally.
India now has 11 universities among the world’s top 100 for citations per faculty, a measure of research impact, while six institutions rank among the global top 100 for employer reputation. Bharathiar University, one of two Indian debutants this year, entered directly into the global top 100 for citations per faculty, ranking 75th worldwide on the indicator.
Graduate employability emerged as another area of strength. The University of Mumbai climbed 70 places to 25th globally for employment outcomes, one of the most significant single-year improvements recorded in this edition of the rankings, while the University of Delhi ranked 35th globally on the indicator. More than a third of Indian universities improved their employer reputation score, giving India the second-highest net improvement in Asia on the indicator, behind only Taiwan.
India’s performance also stood out against a challenging year for several established higher education systems.
While 52% of Indian universities improved their ranking, only 35% of UK institutions and 16% of German universities recorded gains. In the United States, just 13% of ranked institutions improved while 66% declined. Mainland China remained the strongest-performing major system, with 72% of ranked institutions improving and 13 universities entering the rankings.
Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology retained the top position for a 15th consecutive year, while Stanford University and Imperial College London shared second place. Oxford and Harvard completed the top five.
Elsewhere, Australia saw 58% of institutions improve, with UNSW Sydney becoming the country’s highest-ranked university for the first time, while Canada endured a difficult year with 66% of universities declining despite McGill University retaining its position as the country’s top institution.
We are seeing improvement across a much broader cross-section of the sector, suggesting that long-term investments and reforms are beginning to translate into measurable outcomes
Ashwin Fernandes, QS India
Despite the positive results, the rankings also underscored persistent challenges facing Indian higher education.
QS identified internationalisation as one of the sector’s weakest areas, with 90% of institutions recording no improvement in international student numbers and only one Indian university ranking among the world’s top 500 for international faculty representation.
Academic reputation also remained a challenge. Just 8% of Indian universities improved on the indicator, compared with 28% that declined, suggesting that gains in research output and graduate outcomes are not yet translating into equivalent levels of international recognition.
The rankings noted that India continues to host relatively small numbers of international students compared with major destinations such as Australia, Canada and the UK, despite government efforts to expand inbound mobility through initiatives such as Study in India.
The challenge was also highlighted in a NITI Aayog report published earlier this year, which estimated India could host 1.1 million international students by 2047 if barriers including limited scholarships, infrastructure constraints and concerns around global perceptions of Indian higher education are addressed.
Commenting on the results, Ashwin Fernandes, chair of QS India and vice president for strategic and international engagement at QS, said the breadth of progress was particularly significant.
“What makes this edition of the rankings compelling is its breadth. Progress is no longer concentrated among a handful of elite institutions. We are seeing improvement across a much broader cross-section of the sector, suggesting that long-term investments and reforms are beginning to translate into measurable outcomes,” he said.
“For years, the story of Indian higher education was one of potential. Increasingly, it is becoming a story of delivery.”
