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India has more universities in the new QS Asia University Rankings than ever before: 325, including 34 first-time entries. But every one of its six highest-ranked institutions slipped, and none made Asia’s top 50 for the second year running. The detail shows a system that publishes a great deal of research but struggles to get it cited, or to bring in students from abroad.

Students walking across a university campus with large academic buildings

A bigger list with lower peaks

The QS Asia University Rankings 2027, released on 3 November, cover 1,722 universities across 26 countries and territories. India accounts for 325 of them, second only to Mainland China, and almost one in five of all ranked institutions in the region. In 2018 India’s share was about one in 12. In 2016, it had just 24 universities on the list.

The top of the table tells a different story. IIT Delhi is still India’s best-ranked institution but fell from 59th to 66th. IISc Bengaluru dropped from 64th to 79th, IIT Bombay from 71st to 83rd, IIT Madras from 70th to 85th, IIT Kharagpur from 77th to 90th and IIT Kanpur from 77th to 97th. The University of Delhi slid from 95th to 106th, which leaves India with six institutions in Asia’s top 100, down from seven a year ago.

No Indian institution is in the top 50 for the second consecutive year. The last time one was, IIT Delhi stood at 44th and IIT Bombay at 48th.

Falling in rank while improving in score

Rankings are relative, and QS made that point itself. Of the Indian universities ranked, 71 per cent declined, 18 per cent improved and 11 per cent held their position. Yet, according to QS, two-thirds of the Indian universities that dropped in rank still improved their overall scores. Their neighbours simply improved faster. “Competition is growing across the region,” QS said.

There was movement in the middle of the table too. India now has 21 institutions in Asia’s top 200, up from 20 last year and 17 in 2018. Chandigarh University rose from 109th to 104th, the only one of India’s leading group to climb, while Lovely Professional University and Jamia Millia Islamia also moved up.

Where India leads Asia

On raw research volume, India is ahead of the region. On the Papers per Faculty measure, 27 Indian universities are in Asia’s top 50 and five are in the top 10: IISc is first, IIT Madras third, IIT Delhi seventh, IIT Roorkee eighth and IIT Ropar ninth. No other higher education system has as many in that top 10.

Doctoral capacity is the other strength. Fifteen Indian universities share first place in Asia for the proportion of staff with a PhD, more than double the next strongest system, and 47 Indian institutions are in the regional top 100 on this indicator, against 16 in 2018. IIT Bombay (7th) and IIT Delhi (10th) also became the first Indian universities in Asia’s top 10 for Employer Reputation, and seven Indian institutions scored above 90 on Academic Reputation, up from six last year.

Where it falls behind

The gap is between output and influence. Only three Indian universities are in Asia’s top 50 for Citations per Paper, and 77 per cent of Indian institutions declined on that measure this year. “The challenge now is to translate this strength more consistently into research impact and international recognition,” said Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President at QS.

Internationalisation is the weakest area. Some 85 per cent of Indian universities declined on the International Students indicator, inbound exchange fell for 91 per cent and outbound exchange for 89 per cent.

Reputation is spread thin. Beyond the few names at the top, 76 per cent of comparable Indian universities fell on Academic Reputation and 83 per cent on Employer Reputation. India has eight universities in Asia’s top 100 for Academic Reputation, level with Malaysia and Indonesia, and 10 for Employer Reputation. China has 22 and 18.

Who is at the top

The University of Hong Kong is first for the second year in a row, followed by Peking University. Tsinghua University rose six places to third, City University of Hong Kong is fourth and The Chinese University of Hong Kong fifth. For the first time, Mainland China and Hong Kong hold all five top positions. The National University of Singapore fell to sixth and Nanyang Technological University to eighth, from joint third last year.

For a student choosing a college, a slide of a few places says little about teaching in a particular department. The indicators QS reported for India, from reputation surveys and citations to PhD staff and exchange students, measure research strength and visibility more than what happens in a classroom.

What to watch

Two numbers matter most for next year: citations per paper and international students. Both have been weak for a while, and both move slowly. Sowter’s summary was that “India has a strong foundation on which to build”. Whether the IITs and IISc can turn high research volume into research that others cite will decide whether India gets back into Asia’s top 50, or keeps adding names lower down the list.