QS Asia Rankings 2025: Five IITs, DU, IISc among top 100 institutes

NEW DELHI: Five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and Delhi University figured in Asia’s top 100 institutes, according to the QS University Rankings announced on Tuesday. IIT-Delhi, IIT-Madras, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Kharagpur were in the list of top 100 Asian institutes.

“Seven Indian institutions rank in the top 100 in QS World University Asia rankings, 20 in the top 200 and 66 in the top 500," London based QS said in a statement. It said compared to last year, 36 Indian institutes went up in the list, 16 remained the same and 105 fell down the rankings.

"The expansion of the rankings is associated with the greater volatility observed in this year’s results."

“Overall, 41 Indian institutions appear in the top 80th percentile of universities. India ranks best in Asia for staff with PhD,” it added. IIT-Delhi, which ranked 59 this year, was declared the best Indian institute for the fifth consecutive year.

The QS World University Rankings: Asia assesses universities based on 11 indicators, which have been tailored to reflect the nuances of the region and differentiate it from the QS World University Rankings.

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130 Indian universities in QS Asia Rankings 2025

“India’s higher education transformation is now visible in the data. In just five years since the National Education Policy launched, India has built system-level capacity that is globally relevant and locally empowering. The entry of over 130 Indian universities into this year’s Asia Rankings is a strong signal of depth as well as breadth,” said Jessica Turner, CEO, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

“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,” added Turner. India dominates the 'Papers per Faculty' indicator, with five universities ranked among Asia’s top 10 and 28 among the top 50 — more than double the number achieved by its closest competitor, China (two in the top 10 and 14 in the top 50).

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46 in top 100 for 'Papers per Faculty'

The country also has 46 universities in the top 100 for 'Papers per Faculty' and 45 in the top 100 for 'Staff with PhD', with South Korea a distant second (15). Leading India’s research success, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal ranks first for 'Papers per Faculty', followed by Bharathiar University (2nd), Indian Institute of Science (3rd), Anna University (5th), and Indian Institute of Technology Madras (7th).

In 'Staff with PhD', National Institute of Technology, Nagaland and Mother Teresa Women’s University share second place regionally, while nine institutions were -- Indian Institute of Science, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Patna, IIT Ropar, IISER Bhopal, and the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing Kancheepuram -- joint fourth position in the category. The results underscore India’s strong investment in faculty development and research-led teaching.