World University Rankings: What’s holding back India’s dream of world-class higher education

Despite some notable quantitative features like a massive annual undergraduate out-turn of around 77 lakhs, a rising gross enrolment ratio, and highly encouraging gender participation, the prevailing view is that quality in Indian higher education has lagged significantly by most objective and subjective measures, observes independent public policy consultant Mohitkumar Daga.

The recently-released 2026 QS World University Rankings (QS2026) reaffirmed the pattern of relative underperformance of Indian universities as compared to the world. Only 10 Indian institutions ranked among the global top 500, and none in the top 100. In comparison, the United States and China respectively boasted 26 and 5 universities in the top 100.

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