In the latest QS University Rankings for Asia 2025, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) has emerged as India’s top-ranked institution in Asia, surpassing IIT Bombay for the first time. IIT Delhi climbed to 44th place from 46th last year, while IIT Bombay dropped from 40th to 48th. This reshuffle reflects IIT Delhi’s strides in key academic metrics, which enabled it to surpass IIT Bombay.

A significant factor in IIT Delhi’s rise was its improvement in “Citations per Paper,” indicating a higher research impact. IIT Delhi’s score in this metric soared from 14.2 in 2024 to 26.9 in 2025, while IIT Bombay, though improving from 9.3 to 16.9, lagged behind. The “Staff with PhD” metric, which reflects faculty expertise, also saw IIT Delhi closing the gap, rising from 75.4 to 94.7, close to IIT Bombay’s score of 96.3.

In employer reputation, both IITs remained strong contenders, with IIT Bombay slightly leading at 99.5 against IIT Delhi’s 99. Additionally, IIT Delhi took the lead in faculty-student ratio, a quality indicator, rising from 24.1 to 27.2, compared to IIT Bombay’s modest improvement from 14.8 to 17.9.

Both institutions showed consistent research output in the “Papers per Faculty” metric, with IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay scoring nearly equally at 95.2 and 96.2, respectively. Earlier this year, the NIRF 2024 placed IIT Bombay third nationally with a score of 81.37, and IIT Delhi close behind in fourth with 80.31, reflecting their comparable academic strengths.

The rankings also highlighted changes for other Indian institutions, with IIT Madras slipping from 53rd to 56th, IISc Bangalore from 58th to 62nd, and IIT Kanpur from 63rd to 67th. Despite these shifts, IIT Delhi’s ascent in the QS Asia rankings marks a milestone, reinforcing both IITs’ positions as top-tier institutions on the global academic stage.