India has 325 universities in QS Asia rankings, but top six institutions slip

The list for the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027 has been released. India's representation has grown, but the leading institutions in the country are finding it difficult to match other competitors in Asia.

A total of 325 Indian universities have found a place in this year's list, of which 34 have entered for the first time. India is thus the second country after China with the largest higher education system in Asia. According to QS, the rankings include 1,722 universities from 26 higher education systems. Even though India's number has grown, the rankings of the country's top six institutions have fallen from the previous edition.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi remains India's top-ranked institution, but has moved down in Asia from 59th to 66th place. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru is second in the country at 79th. It is followed by IIT Bombay at 83rd, IIT Madras at 85th, IIT Kharagpur at 90th and IIT Kanpur at 97th. All six institutions have slipped from the previous edition.

Delhi University (DU) has dropped out of the top 100 in Asia, moving from 95th to 106th place. Chandigarh University, however, has improved, rising from 109th to 104th. Lovely Professional University (LPU) has moved from 187th to 154th place. Along with these institutions, IIT Guwahati at 120th and IIT Roorkee at 124th are in India's top ten.

The University of Hong Kong has held the top spot in Asia for a second consecutive year. Peking University is second. Tsinghua University jumped from ninth to third place, so two Chinese institutions are in the top three. City University of Hong Kong is fourth and The Chinese University of Hong Kong is fifth. The National University of Singapore is sixth and Nanyang Technological University is eighth.

The main reason for Indian universities falling behind is considered to be increased competition in Asia. This year 195 new universities have entered the rankings, and many universities already on the list have performed better. Seventy-six per cent of Indian universities have weakened on the academic reputation indicator and 83 per cent on the employer reputation indicator. Indian institutions have also been hit on indicators related to international students and student exchange.