QS World University Rankings 2025: IIT Bombay and Delhi Rank Among World's Top 150 Universities

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Bombay and Delhi have achieved remarkable positions in the QS World University Rankings 2025. IIT-Bombay secured the 118th position, climbing 31 places from last year, while IIT-Delhi reached the 150th spot, making a significant leap in global standings.

Growing Presence of Indian Universities

This year saw a substantial increase in participation from Indian universities, with 46 institutions featured in the QS rankings. This represents a 318% increase from the 11 universities that participated in 2015. A spokesperson from IIT Bombay highlighted that this is the first time the institute has ranked within the world's top 125 universities.
Scores and Performance Metrics

IIT-Bombay's performance was notable in several areas

Employer Reputation: 86.0
Citations per Faculty: 79.1
Academic Reputation: 58.5
Employment Outcome: 64.5
Sustainability: 52.5
Faculty-Student Ratio: 14.4
International Faculty: 4.3
International Research Network: 52.3
International Students: 1.3

Employer Reputation was the strongest parameter for IIT Bombay, achieving a global rank of 63.

According to the rankings report, 37 Indian universities have demonstrated improved research impact, reflecting a growing influence of their research output. Many Indian universities have also enhanced their academic and employer reputations over the years.

Challenges in Global Engagement

Despite these improvements, Indian universities continue to face challenges in internationalization and global engagement. The country lags in the International Faculty Ratio and International Student Ratio indicators, highlighting the need for increased international collaboration. India's score for international students is 2.9, significantly below the global average of 26.5.

Similarly, the average score for the proportion of international faculty is 9.3, indicating the need to increase diversity and representation of international faculty members. India's Faculty/Student ratio score is 16.2, well below the global average of 28.1, suggesting a need for strategic focus on faculty recruitment and retention.
Employability and Sustainability

India's Employment Outcomes score is ten points below the global average of 23.8, reflecting the need to bridge the gap between job requirements and graduates' skills. India's Sustainability score of 13.6, also about ten points below the global average, underscores the need to prioritize and strengthen sustainability initiatives within the higher education system.

Among Indian universities, Delhi University showed the most improvement, climbing 79 places to reach the 328th position. DU excelled in the Employment Outcomes parameter, boasting a global rank of 44 and a score of 96.0, highlighting the employability of its graduates.

Performance of Institutes of Eminence

The rankings revealed that among the 11 Institutes of Eminence (IoE), eight have risen in rank, one remains stable, and one has dropped. This edition of the rankings includes 15 private institutions, with seven ascending in rank, four maintaining their positions, two declining, and two entering the rankings for the first time.

Six private universities are now among the world's top 1000 universities. Notably, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences climbed 31 places to break into the top 600.

Private Sector Contributions

The increasing presence and performance of private sector institutions in the rankings underscore the significance of offering diverse educational models to cater to the world's largest projected student population by 2025. Jessica Turner, QS chief executive, remarked on the growing prominence of Indian higher education, with 46 universities now ranked and 61% improving their positions.

Focusing on sustainability, global engagement, and employability will be essential in shaping the future landscape of India's higher education system.