The second edition of the QS India University Rankings has been released today, featuring 107 Indian Universities; all of which are featured in the QS World University Rankings® 2020.

The QS India University Rankings are based on eight indicators; academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, staff with a PhD, papers per faculty, citations per paper, international faculty and international students. You can find out more about the methodology used here.

Read on as we countdown India’s top 10 universities.

10. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG)

In 10^th place in our list of the best universities in India, we have the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati; one of India’s 26 Institutes of technology (IITs). The university earns its highest scores in the employer reputation and academic reputation indicators– indicating that IITG is an extremely reputable university throughout India, both to graduate employers and to other universities. The university also scores well in the papers per facilities indicator, highlighting the institute’s research productivity and impact. 

9. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR)

Ninth on our top universities countdown is the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR). IITR is the oldest Technical Institution in Asia, established in 1847 as the College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee and gaining IIT status in 2001. The university features in the top ten for most indicators including; academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper and staff with PhDs. It also ranks in the top five for the citation per paper indicator.

8. University of Hyderabad

Down one place in the top Indian universities index this year is the University of Hyderabad in eighth place. Established in 1974, the University of Hyderabad is relatively young in comparison to the other top universities in India. The university has more than 5,000 students and 400 faculty members, and in 2015 received the Visitor’s award for the Best Central University in India, awarded by the president of India.

The university earns its highest score in the faculty/student ratio, which reflects the number of students enrolled per full-time academic faculty member employed and shows the university’s commitment to teaching and student support.

7. University of Delhi

Ranked the seventh best Indian university in 2020, the University of Delhi is the highest ranked non-IIT university featured in this year’s 10 best universities in India. The university was established in 1922 and has since become India’s largest institution of higher learning and one of the largest in the world, with over 132,000 students.

It has two main campuses in the north and south of Delhi, with a total of 77 affiliated colleges and 16 faculties. The University of Delhi earns its highest scores for academic reputation and employer reputation.

6. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK)

In sixth place we have the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK). Established in 1959, the institution currently has 3,938 undergraduate students and 240 graduate students.

The university scores well in multiple indicators; particularly the and staff with PhDs and papers per faculty indicators, where it ranks first and fourth respectively – an indication of the large number of highly qualified members of the faculty working at the university.

5. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITKGP)

Entering the top five now, we start with the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITKGP), located in northeast India.

IITKGP ranks joint 281^st in the latest QS World University Rankings® and the university scores well in both the staff with PhD and employer reputation indicators; showing the university’s graduates are extremely attractive to prospective graduate employers. 

4. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM)

In fourth place we have the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM). Despite falling one place this year, the university scores well in both the employer reputation and staff with PhD indicators and places in joint 271^st place in the world university rankings.

Established in 1959, IITM was the third IIT to be established by the government and has 8,000 students, 550 faculty and 16 academic departments. The university also contains facilities such as the IIT Madras Research Park, which is the first of its kind to be established in India. 

3. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi rose one place in 2020 to enter the top three top universities in India for the first time! The university earns the second highest score in India for its academic reputation and employer reputation indicators, suggesting the university is rated highly for both its academic output and its graduate employment prospects.

IITD recently gained ‘Institutes of Eminence’ status, meaning it has increased autonomy on course structures, tuition fees and academic collaborations, as well as allowing 30 percent of admitted students to be international students.

2. Indian Institute of Science (IISC)

The Indian Institute of Science (IISC) is ranked second in the India University rankings this year and places 184^th in the world university rankings. The university situated in the city of Bangalore was established in 1909, but only granted university status in 1958.

The city scores well in the academic reputation indicator and earns first place in the papers per faculty indicators – highlighting the university’s strong academic output.

1. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)

India’s top university is the Indian Institute of Bombay (IITB), ranking 152^nd in the world university rankings. The institute is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of engineering education and research, earning first place for both the academic reputation and employer reputation in the QS India University Rankings.

IITB was established in 1958, as the second IIT in the country, and has since produced a number of high achieving graduates who have made contributions in the fields of industry, academics, research, business, government and more.