New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised India’s performance in the QS World University 2026 Rankings, stating that it brings positive news for education and that the government is committed to delivering benefits to the youth.
He said this while responding to a social media post of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan highlighting the achievements.
PM Modi in his post on X wrote, “The QS World University 2026 Rankings bring great news for our education sector. Our Government is committed to furthering research and innovation ecosystems for the benefit of India’s youth.”
While sharing the news, the Education Minister said that with a record 54 HEIs featuring among the global best, India hits a new high in the QS World University 2026 Rankings. “From just 11 universities in 2014 to 54 in the latest rankings, this five-fold jump is a testament to the transformative educational reforms ushered by PM @narendramodi ji’s govt. in the last decade,” he said.
Pradhan lauded the NEP 2020, saying it is “not just changing our educational landscape, it is revolutionising it.”
He said it was a matter of immense pride that India is also the fastest growing education system among G20 countries and the fourth most represented, behind only the US, UK and China.
“Confident that with NEP’s thrust on research, innovation and internationalisation, more Indian HEIs will scale global excellence in the times ahead,” he said.
A record 54 Indian institutes have been featured in the QS World University Rankings 2026, released on Thursday, with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) emerging as the country’s top-ranked institute.
IIT Delhi’s global ranking has seen a significant jump from the earlier 150th position to the current 123rd rank. This is also the highest QS World University Ranking achieved so far by the Institute. IIT Delhi is closely followed by IIT Bombay, which was the top Indian institute in last year’s rankings. It dropped to the 129th position this year from 118 in 2025.
IIT Madras jumped 47 places to secure the 180th spot, up from 227 in 2025.
For the first time, eight Indian institutions entered the list of QS rankings. It is the highest number of new entries from any country.
With the 2026 QSRankings, India has become the fourth most represented nation globally, after the US, UK, and China.
About 48 per cent of India’s ranked universities improved their positions this year. Five Indian institutions rank in the global top 100 for Employer Reputation.
IIT Kharagpur (215), IISc Bangalore (219), and Delhi University (328) are other premier Indian institutes that made it to the prestigious list. It also includes private institutions such as BITS Pilani (668) and OP Jindal Global University (851-900).
The global list continues to be led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), marking its 14th consecutive year at the top.
(IANS)
