QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025: IIT Delhi, ISM Dhanbad among 9 Indian institutes in top 50

NEW DELHI: Twelve entries from 9 Indian institutions are in the top 50 of the 15th edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 published by the QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) is ranked 26th for engineering category in the QS World Rankings by subject 2025; making it the best engineering college in the country.

The top 9 institutes include three IITs and two Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), however, saw a drop in their positions. India celebrates 12 top-50 positions across the subject rankings and the broad faculty areas, earned by nine institutions. Leading the way is the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad, which ranks 20th globally for Engineering-Mineral and Mining, making it the country's highest-performing subject area.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds published the subject-wise QS World Rankings 2025 by “comparing over 21,000 academic offerings, taken by students at more than 1,700 universities across 100 countries and territories in 55 subjects and five faculty areas”.

How did the IITs, Indian institutes perform in QS Ranking 2025?

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Kharagpur have been ranked at 28th and 45th spot for Engineering-Mineral and Mining. However, both institutions have seen a drop in their positions.

IIT Delhi and Bombay which shared the 45th rank for Engineering and Technology have improved their position to bag the 26th and 28th spot, respectively. The two institutions have also improved their rank for Engineering-Electrical and Electronic to enter the top 50 list.

In the life science and medicine category, All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi (AIIMS) secured 226th rank.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and Bangalore continued to be among world's top 50 for Business and Management Studies but their ranking has dropped since previous year. While IIM Ahmedabad's ranking dropped to 27 from 22, that of IIM Bangalore slipped to 40 from 32.

IIT Madras (Petroleum Engineering) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) (Development Studies) continued to be among world's top 50 but their ranks also dropped by few spots.

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79 Indian universities grab spot

"A total of 79 Indian universities – 10 more than last year – feature 533 times across this year's rankings, marking a 25.7 per cent increase compared to the previous edition. This includes 454 entries in individual subjects and 79 appearances across the five broad faculty areas," QS said in a statement.

In the latest edition of the QS subject-specific rankings, India has the fifth highest number of new entries behind China, the US, the UK and Korea, and ranks 12th for the number of overall entries. "The high number of the new entries featured in the rankings is a continuation of a trend of the country’s growing higher education ecosystem, both in terms of size and quality," QS added.

The United States leads with 3,245 ranked entries and tops 32 of 55 subjects, with Harvard first in 19 and MIT in 12. A total of 1,883 entries were received from the UK and topped in 18 subjects with Cambridge University earning rank 1 in four subject categories. Seven of the world's 10 most improved universities are Chinese.

Subject-wise QS World University Rankings 2025

IIT Delhi is ranked 26, followed by IIT Bombay at 28th spot with a score 82.3 for engineering domain. IIT Madras , which is ranked number 1 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), secured 53rd rank.

“Analysis reveals developments in future-industry areas with 34 new entries in the top 100 for Data Science & AI, 45 changes in top 50 Computer Science and China's first entry in the top 10 Engineering & Technology faculty area. Eight new countries and territories feature, with 171 institutions appearing for the first time and 14 universities rising into top 10 related subject areas,” the official statement read.