Top 10 universities in India

Ranked the seventh best Indian university, the University of Delhi is the highest ranked non-IIT or IIE university featured in India’s top 10. 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 international research network where it’s ranked second in India and 45th in Asia. 

In sixth place we have the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK). Established in 1959, the institution currently has around 8,500 students. 

The university scores well in multiple indicators, particularly the employer reputation and papers per faculty, where it scores fourth and 18th in India respectively – an indication of the substantial number of academic research that the university provides as well as the high esteem of the university held by employers. 

Rising two places in the Asian rankings this year, we have the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITKGP), located in north-east India. 

IITKGP ranks 59th in the latest QS Asia University Rankings and the university scores well for its international research network, seventh in India, and papers per faculty, 17th in India, showing how attractive its graduates are to prospective employers. 

In fourth place is the Indian Institute of Science which also placed 58th in the Asia Rankings. The university, situated in the city of Bangalore, was established in 1901 but was only granted university status in 1958. 

The university scores well in the academic reputation indicator, ranked third in India and 45th in Asia, but achieves a perfect score in the papers per faculty and faculty staff with a PhD indicators – highlighting the university’s strong academic focus and the significance of the research that they conduct. 

In third place, we have the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM). Despite dropping one place this year, the university scores well in employer reputation, where it scores third in India and 47th in Asia, and papers per faculty, where it scores third in India and ninth in Asia. 

In 1959, IITM was the third IIT to be established by the government and today has an enrolment rate of 10,000-15,000 students across 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. 

Taking second place is the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The university earns the second highest scores in India for academic reputation and employer reputation, suggesting that the university is highly rated for both its academic output and its graduate employment prospects. 

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

India’s top university this year is the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), ranking joint 40th in the Asia University Rankings. The institute is recognised internationally as a leader in the field of engineering education and research, earning first place for both the papers per faculty and employer reputation indicators. 

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 significant contributions in the fields of industry, academics, research, business, government and more.