IIT-Delhi has retained the top spot among Indian institutions in the QS World University Rankings 2027 for the second consecutive year. It climbed five places globally to reach the 118th position, marking the highest-ever ranking achieved by an Indian institution. Previously, IIT-Bombay had reached this milestone in the 2025 rankings.
IIT-Bombay, which previously topped the national list, has slipped from 129th to 134th place. It had also experienced an 11-place drop in its ranking last year. Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) remained at the top for the 15th consecutive year, followed by Stanford University, Imperial College, Oxford University, and Harvard University.
Apart from IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras (ranked 170, up from 180 last year)
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) continue to dominate the country’s top 10 list. Apart from IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras (ranked 170, up from 180 last year) is the only other Indian institution to feature in the global top 200.
Other institutions in the national top 10 include: IIT-Kharagpur (205), IIT-Kanpur (221), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (221), Delhi University (322), IIT-Roorkee (335), and IIT-Guwahati (349). Among these, the rankings of IISc and IIT-Guwahati have declined compared to last year. In fact, IISc has witnessed a consistent decline in its ranking over the past few years, it stood at the 155th position in 2023 (when it was the top-ranked Indian institution), fell to 219th last year, and has now dropped to the 221st position.
| Institute | QS World University Rankings |
| IIT-Delhi | 118 |
| IIT Bombay | 134 |
| IIT Madras | 170 |
| IIT Kharagpur | 205 |
| IIT kanpur | 221 |
| IIT Roorkee | 335 |
| IIT Guwahati | 349 |
Although it scores 99.9 on the ‘citations per faculty’ indicator, its performance is not as strong in terms of ’employer reputation’ (48.8) and ’employment outcomes’ (22.6); IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay outperform this premier research institute on these specific metrics.
In a statement to ‘The Indian Express’, QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter discussed the institute’s performance across various metrics. He said, “IIT-Delhi has reached the 39th position globally in ‘Employer Reputation’ and the 60th spot in the ‘Citations per Faculty’ indicator. Additionally, it has climbed 60 places to rank 280th in ‘Employment Outcomes’. Although it dropped 15 places in ‘Academic Reputation’, its score remains strong, placing it at the 157th position.” Over the past five years, IIT-Delhi has improved its ranking by 67 places.
This year, its ranking in ‘Citations’ is the best it has ever achieved, just three years ago, it stood at the 182nd position in this indicator. Both these areas have played a crucial role in IIT-D securing such an impressive ranking in 2027.
