Three Indian universities have debuted in the top 200 of the Times Higher Education Asia Rankings 2021, released today. The impressive performance comes as a record 551 universities from 30 countries and regions qualify for the rankings, making them the most competitive yet. King George’s Medical University ranks highest of India’s debut universities in =139^th, followed by Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (143^rd) and Mahatma Gandhi University (154^th).

India also sees three universities appear in the rankings top 100, with Indian Institute of Science (37^th) coming highest of India’s participating universities for an impressive seventh year in a row. Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (55^th) and Indian Institute of Technology Indore (=78^th) join it in the elite band.

Indian Universities in the THE Asia University Rankings 2021 Top 200

In total, a record 63 Indian universities participated in this year’s rankings, with 14 institutions debuting in the table. This puts India third overall in terms of representation behind Japan (116 universities) and Mainland China (91). Of the 49 Indian universities appearing in the rankings for at least a second consecutive year, the majority (25, or 51%) have maintained or improved on their 2020 ranking positions. Among the biggest movers are Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata which moves into the top 150 (142^nd) up from the 251-300 band in 2020, and KIIT University (251-300), Banasthali University (301-350) and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (351-400) who all move up one ranking band from last year.

Elsewhere in the rankings, mainland Chinese universities claim the top two positions for the second year in a row with Tsinghua University (1^st) and Peking University (2^nd). Singapore’s National University of Singapore (3^rd), and Hong Kong’s University of Hong Kong (4^th) retain their 2020 positions, while Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (5^th) moves into the top 5 after finishing 6^thin 2020. The only new entrant in the top 10 is Japan’s Kyoto University (10^th), which climbs two places after ranking 12^th last year.

Overall top 10

With a record 31 institutions in the top 100, mainland China dominates the group, as 26 (84%) of them either improve or maintain their previous ranking positions. South Korea has the second highest number of universities in the group (12), and Japan follows in third with 11, despite eight of those 11 ranking in lower positions than last year.

72 universities make their debut this year, making the THE Asia University Rankings the most competitive yet, with 10 debutants achieving positions in the top 200. Iran’s Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (45^th) is the highest ranked debutant this year and is joined in the top 100 by mainland China’s debutantZhejiang Normal University (89^th).

Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer at THE commented:

“The THE Asia University Rankings are becoming increasingly competitive every year, with more universities across more countries and regions participating, so it’s great to see India continue to secure a number of positions in the top 100, and very impressive to both see three debut institutions appear in the top 200 and the majority of institutions ranking for at least a second year improve on their positions since 2020.

“India’s record number of participating institutions this year is testament to the willingness of its universities to stand up on the regional and world stage to showcase their strengths and benchmark against their peers. We hope that we continue to see numbers grow over the coming years as Indian universities adapt to the post-Covid world, and the opportunities it may present to attract and retain more regional students and academic staff as disruption to traditional talent flow continues.”