The QS World University 2026 Rankings bring great news for India’s education sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as he reiterated the Centre’s commitment towards “furthering research and innovation ecosystems” for the benefit of the country’s youth.
“The QS World University 2026 Rankings bring great news for our education sector. Our Government is committed to furthering research and innovation ecosystems for the benefit of India’s youth,” PM Modi wrote in a post on X.
The QS World University 2026 Rankings bring great news for our education sector. Our Government is committed to furthering research and innovation ecosystems for the benefit of India’s youth. https://t.co/wO11jvnr0J
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 19, 2025
With a record 54 HEIs featuring among the global best, India reached a new high in the QS World University 2026 Rankings, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Thursday. “From just 11 universities in 2014 to 54 in the latest rankings, this five-fold jump is a testament to the transformative educational reforms ushered by PM Modi’s government in the last decade. NEP 2020 is not just changing our educational landscape; it is revolutionising it,” Pradhan said in a post on X shared by the prime minister.
“Matter of immense pride that India is also the fastest growing education system among G20 countries and the fourth most represented behind only the US, the UK and China”, the minister further said in the social media post while expressing confidence that with “NEP’s thrust on research, innovation and internationalisation, more Indian HEIs will scale global excellence in the times ahead”.
QS Quacquarelli Symonds Director callis it a “historic moment” for India
Meanwhile, Executive Director of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Ashwin Fernandes, also reflected on India’s strongest-ever performance in the QS World University Rankings, noting the 390 percent increase over the past decade, and calling it a “historic moment” for India.
Speaking with news agency ANI, Fernandes said, “This is another historic moment for India because we’ve seen 390 percent growth compared to the last ten years.”
Highlighting IIT Delhi’s jump in QS World University Ranking 2026 by 27 places to secure the 123rd spot, Fernandes told the agency that it is due to its improvement of employer reputation and the citation indicator.
“Kudos to the PM Modi-led Government, which is positioning India as a global leader, and one of the global leaders is IIT Delhi, which has improved its position by over 70 places in the last two years due to its improvement of employer reputation and the citation indicator,” Fernandes told ANI.
“Positioning IIT Delhi with such results truly makes India a ‘Vishwa Guru‘ and a step forward in becoming a global leader in science, technology and higher education,” he reportedly said.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has emerged as the country’s top-ranked institution, securing the 123rd spot globally—a jump of 27 places from last year’s position of 150.
Speaking about IIT Delhi overtaking IIT Bombay, Fernandes further told the news agency, “IIT Bombay has always been the frontrunner and has always led the rankings for the first time, IIT Delhi overtakes IIT Bombay to become the clear number one ranked university in India and 123 in the world, making it one of the best universities. It is due to various factors which QS considers and the impetus which the Indian Government has had on research and education.”
IIT Bombay and IIT Madras followed at 129th and 180th, respectively, behind IIT Delhi. Notably, IIT Madras entered the global top 200 for the first time.
The rankings, released by global higher education analysts QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), cover over 1,500 universities from 106 countries and territories.
India is now the fourth most represented country, behind only the United States (192), the United Kingdom (90), and Mainland China (72).
India ‘Added Most New Universities to the QS Rankings’ This Year
“This year, India has added the most new universities to the QS rankings, with eight fresh entrants. It’s a clear sign of a system evolving at both speed and scale,” ANI quoted Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, as saying. “India is rewriting the global higher education map.”
According to the report, IIT Delhi performed strongly in several indicators, ranking 50th globally in Employer Reputation, 86th in Citations per Faculty, and 142nd in Academic Reputation. Five Indian universities are now among the global top 100 in Employer Reputation, including IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur.
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