New Delhi: Five Indian Institutes of Technology — IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, and IIT Kharagpur — along with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and Delhi University have figured among Asia's top 100 institutes, according to the QS University Rankings 2026 released on Tuesday.

“Seven Indian institutions rank in the top 100 in QS World University Asia Rankings, 20 in the top 200, and 66 in the top 500,” London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) said in a statement.

Compared to last year, 36 Indian institutes moved up, 16 maintained their positions, and 105 dropped. “The expansion of the rankings is associated with greater volatility in this year's results,” QS noted.

IIT Delhi, ranked 59th, was declared the best Indian institute for the fifth consecutive year.

The rankings assess universities based on 11 indicators tailored to reflect regional characteristics distinct from the global QS rankings.

“India's higher education transformation is now visible in the data. In just five years since the National Education Policy (NEP) was launched, India has built system-level capacity that is globally relevant and locally empowering. The entry of over 130 Indian universities into this year's Asia Rankings signals both depth and breadth,” said Jessica Turner, CEO, QS.

India led the 'Papers per Faculty' category, with five universities among Asia's top 10 and 28 in the top 50 — more than double that of China. It also had 46 universities in the top 100 for 'Papers per Faculty' and 45 in the top 100 for 'Staff with PhD'.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (West Bengal) ranked first in 'Papers per Faculty', followed by Bharathiar University (2nd), IISc (3rd), Anna University (5th), and IIT Madras (7th).

In 'Staff with PhD', NIT Nagaland and Mother Teresa Women's University shared second place, while IISc, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Patna, IIT Ropar, IISER Bhopal, and IIITDM Kancheepuram jointly ranked fourth.

The results underscore India's growing focus on faculty development and research-driven teaching.