The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has secured the highest-ever position of India’s top institution in the QS World University Rankings 2027, rising five places to 118th in the rankings. This is the best-ever position for an Indian institution overall in the QS rankings, which first saw an Indian institution highly ranked by reaching the top 200 in 2025, with IIT Bombay taking the 114th spot.
IIT Delhi has managed to gain five places, while IIT Bombay dropped five places to 134th, becoming only the second institution in consecutive years to slip in the rankings from 129th in 2026 to 134th in 2027. In global rankings, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has retained the 1st position for the 15th time, followed by Stanford University, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and Harvard University for the top five.
Why did IIT-Delhi improve in QS Rankings 2027
According to QS, the rise of IIT-Delhi was mainly due to its strong performance in employer reputation, research impact and employability of graduates. The institution reached 39th globally in employer reputation and 60th in citation per faculty. The distance between its graduation outcomes ranking (280th in the world) and its global position is considerable.
IIT Delhi has jumped 67 places to the 12th position in the overall rankings; experts said its growing research stature and industry reputation were behind its strong performance in 2012.
What caused the decline in IIT-Bombay’s ranking
IIT Bombay’s roar in employers’ perception and the gains in employment showed that it has maintained a great reputation among employers, but a decline in its citations per faculty score washed out its overall rank.
In addition, QS officials said that in the internationalisation indicators such as international faculty, international students and international research networks, IITs performed weakly. As universities in a number of countries catch up on global reach and exposure, Indian institutions struggle to keep up with the pace in global relevance.
Which Indian universities made the top 15 list
The IITs are still dominating the country’s higher education, and apart from IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay, IIT Madras was taken to the 170th spot in the world rankings, becoming the third Indian institution to make the global top 200 list.
Other institutions in the list of top-performing Indian universities share include IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, the University of Delhi, IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati.
IISc, which was ranked 1st in India last year, continued its decline and fell from 155th in 2023 to 221st this year. While it remains among the top research citations in the world, it did not score as well on employers’ reputation and job placement.
How did Shoolini University stand out
A big success story of this year was Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences in Himachal Pradesh. The private university reached the top 10 in India after its global ranking improved from 503 to 452. This growth was mostly a result of research performance. The international faculty ratio and sustainability indicators contributed positively. QS named Shoolini as a key example of a private university strengthening the research ecosystem of India.
What is holding Indian universities from entering the top 100 worldwide
While there was growth in Indian universities, none has entered the QS top 100 worldwide. Experts say engagement with the international community and faculty-student ratios are key barriers. Indian universities have seen growth in research output and academic reputation but still lag behind the world’s best universities in recruiting international faculty and students. Only when all indicators make balanced progress can Indian universities rank among the world’s top 100 universities.
India’s 52 institutions in the QS Rankings 2027 have made India the fifth most represented country after America, Britain, China and Germany. They show the steep growth in representation of universities from India over the last decade.
Radhika is a journalist with two years of experience covering education, competitive exams, and student-focused developments. She reports on exam notifications, results, admissions, scholarships, and academic policies, helping students stay updated with important information.
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