India’s premier educational institutions continue to make strides on the global stage, with IIM-Ahmedabad breaking into the top 25 for business and management studies in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. IIM-Bangalore and IIM-Calcutta also secured places among the top 50. Meanwhile, Jawaharlal Nehru University leads the Indian contingent, clinching the 20th position worldwide for development studies.

The Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences in Chennai also made a mark, ranking 24th globally for dentistry studies.

Acknowledging India’s educational challenges, QS CEO Jessica Turner emphasized the importance of providing high-quality tertiary education amidst increasing demand. India saw a notable increase in the number of its programs featured in the rankings, from 355 to 454, reflecting its commitment to the ambitious goals set by the National Education Policy.

India demonstrated significant progress in this year’s rankings, with a 20% improvement in Citations per Paper, indicating a robust research capability. However, there was a 5% decrease in the H Index, reflecting a challenge in balancing research productivity and impact.

Despite these challenges, India emerges as one of the world’s fastest-growing research centers, with a remarkable 54% surge in research output from 2017 to 2022. However, there’s room for improvement in securing citations in premier global journals, with only 15% of Indian research cited in top-tier journals between 2017 and 2021.

The 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject cover over 16,400 university programs from 1,500 universities across 95 countries and territories. In the broader Asian context, India ranks second in the number of featured universities and holds the fourth position in the total number of ranked entries, following China, Japan, and South Korea.