India has expanded its presence in the QS Asia University Rankings 2027, with 325 institutions making it to the latest list. However, the country's six highest-ranked institutions have all witnessed a decline in their positions compared with the previous edition.
IIT Delhi remains India's highest-ranked institution, securing the 66th position in Asia, down from 59th in the previous ranking. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, stands second among Indian institutions at 79th, followed by IIT Bombay at 83rd and IIT Madras at 85th.
IIT Kharagpur has been placed at 90th, while IIT Kanpur ranks 97th. All six institutions have slipped compared with their previous positions.
IIT Guwahati has secured the 120th position, while IIT Roorkee ranks 124th. Delhi University has fallen from 95th to 106th. In contrast, Chandigarh University improved from 109th to 104th, and Lovely Professional University climbed from 187th to 154th.
India has 325 universities in the latest rankings, including 34 new entrants. This makes the country the second-largest higher education system in terms of representation in the region, after China.
The QS Asia Rankings 2027 cover 1,722 universities across 26 higher education systems.
The University of Hong Kong retained the top position for the second consecutive year. Peking University ranked second, while Tsinghua University climbed from ninth to third. Two Chinese institutions therefore feature in the top three.
The growing competition across Asia is being identified as a key factor behind the decline in the rankings of Indian institutions. A total of 195 new universities entered this year's list. The performance of Indian institutions also weakened in academic reputation and employer reputation indicators.