THE Asia Rankings 2026 out; IISc tops India at 43, no Indian university in top 40

Times Higher Education (THE) has released the Asia University Rankings 2026 with a record 929 universities from 36 countries and territories featuring in the list, compared to 853 institutions last year. India has the highest representation with 128 universities, but no Indian institution has found a place in the top 40 this year.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru is the highest-ranked Indian institution at =43, though it has slipped from 38th place last year. It remains the only Indian university in the top 50.

IIT Indore is the next best performer, while a cluster of Indian private and central universities have entered the 100–200 range. Overall, India has 12 institutions placed within Asia’s top 200 universities.

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Several Indian institutes, however, continue to stay away from global ranking submissions. BITS Pilani this year opted out of the THE evaluation process, joining a list of IITs that had earlier raised concerns over transparency in the methodology.

THE Asia University Rankings 2026: Top Indian universities

Top 12 Indian universities placed among Asia’s top 200 universities are;

THE Asia University Rankings 2026: Top 10 Universities in Asia

The top 10 universities in Asia, along with their respective countries, are listed below;

China retained its hold over the rankings with five institutions in the top 10, while Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan also maintained strong positions. India, despite having the largest number of institutions in the list, remains absent from the top 40 bracket in this year’s edition.