The Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi retained its position as India's top-ranked university in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, released on Thursday. The institute was ranked 118th globally, the highest for any Indian institution. The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay had earlier become the first Indian institute to be ranked 118th, in 2025.

Fifty-two Indian universities featured in the global rankings. Of these, 26 improved their ranks, nine held their position, 15 fell and two entered the list for the first time. Seven of India's top 10 universities were Indian Institutes of Technology, including the top five. Eleven Indian universities were among the world's top 100 for citations per faculty, a measure of research intensity and volume. The Indian Institute of Science Bangalore ranked 21st globally for citations per faculty.

For employer reputation, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay ranked 32nd globally and the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi 39th. This metric is derived from a QS survey of more than 69,400 employers worldwide.

However, the rankings noted that the academic reputation scores of Indian universities remained modest. This indicator is based on more than 1.2 lakh academics nominating institutes in their fields. Academic reputation improved for 8% of the 52 ranked universities and declined for 28%. India's share of global research output grew to about 5.5% of all Scopus-indexed papers, placing it third by volume behind China and the United States. QS stressed that volume alone does not move reputation; high-impact output and deliberate international positioning are needed.