New Delhi (India), November 18 : India saw nine of its universities placed within the top 700 of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026, with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi once again emerging as the country's best-performer at 205th rank.
As per the ranking released on Tuesday, over 100 Indian universities feature in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 placing India fourth in global representation.
Of the 103 universities from India, 32 improved their rankings this year, 15 retained their ranks from last year, and 30 dropped.
"Several Indian universities achieve their highest ever score in the 2026 iteration of this ranking, including nine within the top 700," the QS Quacquarelli Symonds said in a statement.
Besides IIT Delhi, Vellore Institute of Technology (352nd), Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (352nd), Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (522nd), Lovely Professional University (544th), Panjab University (569th), Banaras Hindu University (594th), National Institute of Technology Rourkela (652nd), Indian Institute of Technology BHU Varanasi (672nd) and UPES (682nd) are the Indian universities ranking within the top 700 that achieve their highest ever position this year, the statement mentioned.
"Overall, Indian universities excel in knowledge exchange and environmental sustainability. The higher education system also boasts some outstanding individual performances, especially among the IITs and institutions such as the University of Delhi. The role of higher education in the fight against climate change is highlighted in these rankings," Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, said.
Lund University in Sweden has taken the top spot for the first time since the ranking was established in 2023. University of Toronto had been the best in the world in 2024 and 2025 and now drops to second place, followed by UCL in the UK which has climbed two positions to third overall.
This year, some 2,000 universities in 106 locations feature, up from around 1,750 in the previous edition.
Overall, 240 universities from the US feature in the ranking, followed by China with 163, the UK with 109, India with 103 and France with 76. A total of eight locations see at least 10 institutions debut in the ranking this year, with Mainland China with the most with 49 debutants, followed by India with 26.
Among the 15 IITs that feature in the ranking this year, six improve their ranking in 2026 compared to the 2025 iteration. IIT Delhi is one of six IITs that have made significant progress since the inaugural ranking three years ago.
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) both rise into the top 100 in Employability and Outcomes, ranking at 93rd and 96th, respectively. University of Delhi also rises in Knowledge Exchange by 27 places to rank 94th.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) rises one place to rank 100th in the world for the Environmental Impact lens, worth 45 per cent of the overall score. IIT-KGP also rises into the top 50 in the Environmental Sustainability indicator, placing 49th.
University of Delhi rises by 31 places in the Governance indicator to rank 187th in the world.
Environmental Education is the indicator where close to half of India's ranked universities improved this year. Nine universities score over 84 in the indicator, demonstrating their strong reputation in Earth and Environmental programs and Climate Science capabilities.