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Seventy-eight Indian universities feature in the 2025 rankings, with nine of the top 10 institutions in the country improving their positions this year
IIT-Delhi is top in India for Sustainability in 2025, climbing the table by some 255 places to reach 171st place globally, the rankings report stated. (File photo: ANI)
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Delhi and Kanpur feature in the global top 100 in the Environment Impact category of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025: Sustainability.
IIT-Delhi is also the top-ranked Indian institution in the Social Impact (362) category. It ranks top in two lenses – Employability and Outcomes (116) and Environmental Research (256) as well.
The 2025 rankings showcase over 1,740 universities from 107 countries and territories, reflecting significant growth from the previous edition, which included 1,397 institutions across 95 locations. This marks an increase of more than 1,000 institutions since the inaugural rankings in 2022.
Seventy-eight Indian universities feature in the 2025 rankings, with nine of the top 10 institutions in the country improving their positions this year.
IIT-Delhi is top in India for Sustainability in 2025, climbing the table by some 255 places to reach 171st place globally, the rankings report stated.
The rankings highlighted that both IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur featured in the global top 100 in the Environmental Impact category, which is worth 45% of the overall score.
IIT-Delhi is placed 55 and IIT-Kanpur 87 in the Environmental Impact category. IIT-Bombay is also notable, taking the 101st spot, and IIT-Kharagpur comes in at 113th position.
IIT-Kharagpur also tops in India for two lenses: Impact of Education (676) and Health and Wellbeing (391).
IIT-Madras is in 277th position globally, while Delhi University came several notches down to 299th rank from 220 last year. However, DU tops in India for Knowledge Exchange, coming in at 121st place globally.
The Environmental Impact category includes environmental sustainability, environmental education, and environmental research lenses.
IIT-Bombay is top in the Environmental Sustainability lens, placed at 38th place globally.
‘Indian universities forging ahead’
Ben Stower, vice president of QS, said that of the 78 Indian universities that feature in the 2025 QS Sustainability rankings, 34 have improved on last year’s placing and eight have maintained their positions.
“This is an excellent achievement for the Indian higher education ecosystem and shows that Indian universities are forging ahead with their sustainability initiatives,” said Stower.
The rankings showed 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 at the 176th spot.
“This is an area where universities could look to improve further; however, there are some standout performers, including Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), which leapt 228 places to be ranked 286 this year, and Anna University, which climbed 356 spots to come in at the improved 322nd position,” the rankings stated.
According to the rankings, within the Social Impact category, Indian universities can look to improve their indicator scores in the health, well-being, and impact of education quality lenses, where no institutions from the country feature in the top 350.
However, universities from India scored better in the Knowledge Exchange and Employability and Outcome lenses.
“Impact of Education and Health and Wellbeing are two areas where there is room for improvement in the Indian higher education system. However, institutions are already heading in the right direction,” said Stower.
IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Roorkee, and IIT-Delhi all increased their positions by more than 100 places in the Health and Wellbeing lens.
Similarly, IIT-Madras improved its position in the Impact of Education lens by 341 places and IIT-Bombay by 386 places this year, he said.
The Sustainability rankings are based on university performance across three assessment categories—-Environmental Impact (aggregating three indicators: Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Education and Environmental Research), Social Impact (aggregating five indicators: Equality, Knowledge Exchange, Impact of Education, Employability and Outcomes and Health and Wellbeing), and Governance (considering factors related to good governance: ethics, hiring practices, transparency, and decision-making).
‘Sustainability top priority for students’
Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, said, “Sustainability is a top priority for today’s students, with nine in ten identifying it as important and 40% actively researching universities’ sustainability strategies during the application process, according to the latest QS International Students Survey. This underscores the urgency for sustainability to remain at the forefront of institutional agendas.”
The progress, she added, reflected in this year’s QS Sustainability Rankings, marked by 461 institutions improving their positions, 350 new entrants, and five universities breaking into the top 20 for the first time, which highlights the growing global efforts by higher education institutions to address sustainability challenges.
“However, despite some strong performances of universities in our rankings, there is still much to be done. As more institutions engage with this framework, the increasing competitiveness of the ranking reflects the growing commitment globally to advancing sustainability in higher education,” said Turner.
