Over 100 Indian universities make it to QS sustainability rankings

Over 100 Indian universities make it to QS sustainability rankings

The London-based QS Quacquarelli Symonds on Tuesday released its QS World University Rankings for Sustainability 2026, showing that India, with 103 universities, had the fourth-highest number of institutions in the list, behind the United States, China, and the United Kingdom.

The QS sustainability rankings, established in 2023, assess institutions across environmental and social sustainability categories such as environmental impact, social impact, and governance. These include indicators covering environmental research, sustainability, and education, along with equality, employability, knowledge exchange, and health and wellbeing.

The rankings released on Tuesday showed institutions from the U.K., Canada, Sweden, and the U.S. dominating the top 15, with Lund University in Sweden taking the top position. This year’s edition features close to 2,000 institutions from over 100 locations worldwide.

Of the 103 Indian universities featured, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi was the best performing, placed at 205. Overall, QS noted that India had 12 universities in the top 500, matching the number for countries such as China and the Netherlands.

While this is IIT, Delhi’s highest position in the sustainability rankings since their inception, it is lower in relative terms compared to its performance last year, when around 1,700 institutions were ranked. Among the top 15 Indian universities in this year’s sustainability rankings, nine saw their positions drop from the previous year’s. These included Jadavpur University, IIT, Kanpur, IIT, Madras, the Indian Institute of Science, and others.

Across the 103 Indian institutions ranked, 30 saw their positions decline, 32 improved, and 15 remained unchanged. At the indicator level, IIT, Delhi (93rd) and IIT, Kharagpur (96th) made it to the top 100 globally for Employability and Outcomes. The University of Delhi entered the top 100 for Knowledge Exchange, at 94.

In a statement, Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, said “Overall, Indian universities excel in knowledge exchange and environmental sustainability.”