IIT Bombay (Source/Wikipedia)
Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has maintained its position as the best institute in the world for the 13th consecutive year.
The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) has risen from 149th in 2024 to 118th in the 2025 rankings, marking an improvement of 31 places.
For the 2025 QS World University Rankings, QS claims to have analysed 17 million research papers, 176 million citations, data from 5,600 institutions worldwide, and insights from 175,798 academics and 105,476 employers.
As in the previous year, IIT Bombay is followed by IIT Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, which are ranked second and third in India, respectively.
IIT Delhi advanced 47 positions, from 197 last year to 150 this year, while IISc improved 14 places, from 225 to 211 in the world rankings.
The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) has secured the fourth spot, moving up from 271 in 2024 to 222 this year. It is followed by IIT Madras, which climbed 58 ranks (from 285 to 227). IIT Madras has overtaken IIT Kanpur, which, despite improving from 278 to 263, has slipped to the sixth position.
One of the most significant improvements has been made by the University of Delhi (DU), which jumped 79 ranks, from 407 last year to 328 this year in world rankings. The central university has moved up from ninth last year to seventh this year.
The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), and Anna University have secured the 8th, 9th, and 10th ranks, respectively.
Other notable entries include the Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IIT Indore), Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, and Savitribai Phule Pune University, which are all in the top 15.
However, IIT Indore is the only institute that recorded a decline, falling from 454 in 2024 to 477 in 2025.
Symbiosis International (Deemed University) is a new entrant in the top 20, ranking 16th as it placed within the 641-650 bracket in the 2025 QS world Rankings.
Other universities in the top 20 include IIT Hyderabad, Chandigarh University, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, and the University of Mumbai, respectively.
However, India faces challenges in internationalisation. According to the latest QS ranking, India lags in the International Faculty Ratio and International Student Ratio indicators, highlighting the need for greater international collaboration and exchange.
India’s score for the proportion of 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. Additionally, India’s Faculty/Student ratio score of 16.2 is considerably lower than the global average of 28.1.
For the 13th consecutive year, MIT has secured the top rank, followed by the United Kingdom’s Imperial College London, which has improved its position from sixth to second.
The third rank is jointly held by Harvard University, which climbed one spot, and the University of Oxford, which maintained its third-place position from last year.
The University of Cambridge, however, has dropped from second last year to fifth this time. Stanford University also fell, moving from fifth in the 2024 rankings to sixth in the 2025 QS rankings.
ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the National University of Singapore (NUS), and UCL have retained their seventh, eighth, and ninth spots, respectively. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has risen from 15th last year to 10th this time.
First Published: Jun 05 2024 | 3:05 PM IST
