London 18 February 2020: Eleven Indian universities have achieved top 100 positions in Times Higher Education’s (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020. The achievement marks only the second time eleven Indian institutions have held top 100 positions since the ranking began in 2014 when much fewer universities took part in the ranking globally.
Only China has more universities in the top 100 (30)than India from a total of 47 countries and territories included in the ranking.56 Indian universities appear in the full ranking out of 533 universities in total.While it is too soon for the Indian government’s Institutes of Eminence scheme, established in 2017,to influence the rankings data, one of its participating universities, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has entered the top 100 for the first time, moving up a huge 51 places from joint 141st in 2019.Amrita declared improvements in almost all the ranking metrics compared to 2019.
The other universities included in the Institutes of Eminence scheme that appear in the top 100 mark the biggest improvers in the ranking with IIT Kharagpur moving up 23 places to 32nd, IIT Delhi improving by 28 places to joint 38th and IIT Madras climbing 12 places to joint 63rd. Indian Institute of Technology Ropar and Institute of Chemical Technology are entering the ranking for the first time, and both debut in the top 100.
The Institutes of Eminence scheme provides participating universities with government funding and greater autonomy with the aim of moving them into the top 100 of the world university rankings, including Times Higher Education’s World University Ranking, over time. The expectation is that this will be achieved through a number of changes including an increase in foreign students and staff, offering online courses and encouraging academic collaboration with other top universities around the world.
Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer at THE commented,“There has long been a debate about the success of Indian universities in world rankings, and for too long they have been seen as underperforming on the global stage. The Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020 suggests that real progress is being made by a number of institutions in a number of metrics across our robust methodology, and could mark an exciting turning point for Indian higher education, enabled in part by the Institutes of Eminence scheme.”
Indian universities performance by year:
| Year | No. of Unis in Top 100 | Total no. of unis in ranking |
| 2014 | 10 | 100 |
| 2015 | 11 | 100 |
| 2016 | 9 | 200 |
| 2017 | 8 | 300 |
| 2018 | 8 | 378 |
| 2019 | 10 | 442 |
| 2020 | 11 | 533 |
Indian universities in top 100 2020:
| University | 2020 | 2019 | Movement |
| Indian Institute of Science | 16 | 14 | -2 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur | 32 | 55 | +23 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Bombay | 34 | 27 | -7 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | =38 | 66 | +28 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | 58 | 35 | -23 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Indore | 61 | 61 | +/-0 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Madras | =63 | =75 | +12 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Ropar | =63 | NR | N/A |
| Institute of Chemical Technology | =73 | NR | N/A |
| Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur | 77 | =46 | -31 |
| Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | 90 | =141 | +51 |
