India outperformed China in the QS Asia University Rankings 2025. As many as 162 higher education institutions (HEIs) from India found a place in the list. India had the highest growth in university representation, unlike China. A total of 135 Chenese universities made the list, while Japan secured the third spot with 115 universities.
A total of 6,278 universities from Asia were surveyed by the London-based university rankings. The rating agency used eleven performance indicators, including employer reputation, international faculty ratio, international research network, international student ratio, academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, outgoing exchange students, incoming exchange students, papers per faculty, citations per paper, and staff. with PhDs.
According to the press release, a total of seven Indian universities ranked among the top 100 institutions in Asia, including University of Delhi, IISc Bangalore, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur, among others. Notably, IIT Delhi ranked 44th and emerged as the highest Indian institution in Asia and India this year. Meanwhile, IIT Bombay's ranking dropped to second among top institutions across India.
Among all the private universities in India, Chandigarh University (CU) continued its stellar performance and secured the top spot in the QS Asia University Rankings. The ranking improved from 149th place in the previous edition (2024) to 120th place.
Chancellor of Chandigarh University and Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “India has become one of the most preferred academic destinations to pursue higher education and many international students have chosen to study here,” reported ANI.
He added: “In 2014, India was ranked 81st in the Global Innovation Index, which has risen to 39th position in 2025. The number of patents filed increased by 31 percent and reached 83,000 in 2023, while up to 2014 only 42,700 patents had been filed. ”
Overall, the qualitative changes in the Indian higher education sector over the past decade, aimed at stimulating research, learning and innovation, are the key factors that have made India the most represented higher education system in Asia.
