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The 2025 rankings feature 78 Indian universities, with nine of the country’s top 10 institutions improving their positions this year.

IIT-Delhi has topped India in terms of sustainability in 2025, climbing nearly 255 places in the table to 171st globally, the ranking report said. (File photo: ANI)
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) of Delhi and Kanpur feature in the global top 100 in the environmental impact category. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025: sustainability.
IIT-Delhi is also the top ranked Indian institute in the social impact category (362). It also topped in two lenses – employment and outcomes (116) and environmental research (256).
The 2025 ranking includes more than 1,740 universities from 107 countries and territories, marking a significant increase from the previous edition, which included 1,397 institutions in 95 places. This marks an increase of over 1,000 institutions since the inaugural ranking in 2022.
The 2025 rankings feature 78 Indian universities, with nine of the country’s top 10 institutions improving their positions this year.
IIT-Delhi has topped India in terms of sustainability in 2025, climbing nearly 255 places in the table to 171st globally, the ranking report said.
The ranking highlighted that both IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur feature in the global top 100 in the environmental impact category, accounting for 45% of the total score.
In the environmental impact category, IIT-Delhi has been placed at 55th position and IIT-Kanpur at 87th position. Also notable are IIT-Bombay, ranked 101st, and IIT-Kharagpur, ranked 113rd.
IIT-Kharagpur also tops India in two lenses: impact of education (676) and health and well-being (391).
IIT-Madras is ranked 277th globally, while Delhi University has slipped several places to 299th from 220 last year. However, DU tops India in terms of knowledge sharing, ranking 121st globally.
The environmental impact category includes environmental sustainability, environmental education, and environmental research lenses.
IIT-Bombay tops the list in terms of environmental sustainability, being ranked 38th globally.
‘Indian universities are moving forward’
Ben Stover, vice-president of QS, said that of the 78 Indian universities included in the 2025 QS Sustainability Rankings, 34 have improved compared to last year and eight have retained their positions.
“This is an outstanding achievement for the Indian higher education ecosystem and shows that Indian universities are leading the way with their sustainability initiatives,” Stover said.
The ranking revealed that Manipal Academy of Higher Education-Manipal University (MAHE) is the only Indian institution to feature in the global top 200 in the governance category with 176th rank.
“This is an area where universities may want to improve further; However, there have been some standout performers, including Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), which climbed 228 places to 286th this year, and Anna University, which climbed 356 places to 322nd Is,” the ranking said. ,
According to the ranking, within the social impact category, Indian universities can improve their indicator scores under the impact of health, well-being and education quality lenses, where no institution in the country features in the top 350.
However, India’s universities scored better in the knowledge exchange and employability and outcomes lens.
“Education and health and wellness impact are two areas where there is scope for improvement in the Indian higher education system. However, institutions are already moving in the right direction,” Stover said.
IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Delhi all increased their positions by more than 100 places in the health and wellness lens.
Similarly, IIT-Madras has improved its position in education impact by 341 places and IIT-Bombay by 386 places, he said.
The sustainability ranking is based on the university’s performance in three assessment categories – environmental impact (aggregating three indicators: environmental sustainability, environmental education and environmental research), social impact (aggregating five indicators: equity, knowledge exchange, impact of education, employment and outcomes) and health and well-being), and governance (considering factors related to good governance: ethics, recruitment practices, transparency and decision making).
‘Sustainability a top priority for students’
Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, said: “Sustainability is a top priority for today’s students, according to the latest QS International Student Survey, nine out of ten consider it important and 40% actively look at universities’ sustainability strategies during the application process. Let’s do research. “This underlines the urgency for sustainability to remain at the forefront of the institutional agenda.”
The progress, he said, is reflected in this year’s QS Sustainability Rankings, in which 461 institutions have improved their positions, there are 350 new entrants, and five universities feature in the top 20 for the first time, showing growing progress by higher education institutions. Highlights global efforts. Address sustainability challenges.
“However, despite some strong performances from universities in our rankings, there is still much more to be done. As more institutions align with this framework, the increased competitiveness of the rankings reflects the growing commitment globally to advance sustainability in higher education,” Turner said.
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