QS Quacquarelli Simmons, the global higher education expert, today announced the third edition of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025. This year, the top spot was taken by IIT Delhi (171st in the world) which improved by 255 places, followed by IIT Kharagpur which improved by 147 places to 202nd in the world and the third position was occupied by IIT Bombay. 69 rank improvement (Global Rank 234).
A total of 78 Indian universities have participated in the QS Sustainability Rankings 2025, with nine of the top 10 universities in the country improving their rankings this year. This time, a total of 21 new national teams have been added to the ranking.
Ranking in India Ranking in 2025 Ranking changed in 2024 Institution 1 171 426 255 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) 2 202 349 147 Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) 3 234 303 69 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) 4 245 522 277 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) 5 277 344 67 Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) 6 299 220 -79 University of Delhi 7 376 505 129 Indian Institute of Science 8 396 449 53 Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) 9 401 576 175 Manipal Academy of Higher Education – Manipal University (MAHE) 10 412 496 84 anna university
IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras improved by 177 and 67 ranks respectively to become 4th and 5th in India, with global rankings of 245 and 277 respectively. The University of Delhi was the only Indian university to drop in ranking this year, dropping from 220th place last year to 299th this year, but still coming in at 6th place on the list of Indian universities.
Indian Institute of Science, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Manipal Academy of Higher Education – Manipal University (MAHE) and Anna University are ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively.
Both Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) are ranked in the top 100 globally in the environmental impact category, accounting for 45% of the overall score. IIT-D ranks 55th and IIT-K ranks 87th in this category. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) also stands out at 101st position, while Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) ranks 113th.
Top 10 institutions in India in environmental impact category (including environmental sustainability, environmental education and environmental research lenses):
Institutional Environmental Impact Ranking Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) 55 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) 87 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) 101 Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) 113 Indian Institute of Science 179 Jadavpur University 189 Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) 204 University of Delhi 244 Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) 268 Jawaharlal Nehru University 323
Within the social impact category, Indian universities can aim to improve their index scores in terms of health and well-being, educational impact, and equality, but no Indian universities are included in the top 350. Indian universities scored higher in knowledge exchange and knowledge exchange. Employability and achievement lens.
Knowledge Exchange Ranking of Institutions Employability and Performance Ranking of Educational Institutions University of Delhi 121 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) 116 Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) 161 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) 116 Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) 197 Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) 130 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) 218 Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) 191 Manipal Academy of Higher Education – Manipal University (MAHE) 227 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) 267 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) 241 SRM Institute of Science and Technology 244
IIT Delhi (IITD) ranks among the top educational institutions in India in the social impact (362) and environmental impact (55) categories. It also ranks first in two dimensions: employability and outcomes (116th) and environmental research (256th).
Manipal Academy of Higher Education – Manipal University (MAHE) is a top-ranked Indian university in terms of governance. It also ranks first in India and 390th in the world when it comes to equality.
IIT Bombay is at the top in terms of environmental sustainability, ranking 38th in the world. IIT Kharagpur ranks top in India in two respects: Education Impact (676th) and Health and Wellbeing (391st). DU is also number one in India and 121st in the world in knowledge exchange. IISc is ranked 32nd in the world for environmental education.
“Of the 78 Indian universities featured in the QS Sustainability Rankings 2025, 34 improved on last year’s rankings and eight maintained their positions. This is significant for India’s higher education ecosystem. It is a great achievement and shows that Indian universities are making strides in their sustainability efforts.
“Educational impact and health and well-being are two areas where there is room for improvement in the Indian higher education system.However, institutions are already moving in the right direction: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP); Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) have all improved by more than 100 places in terms of health and well-being in 2025.
“Similarly, this year, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) improved its ranking by 341 places and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) by 386 places under the lens of educational impact. We congratulate all Indian institutions that continue to develop their sustainability ambitions in India,” said Ben Souter, Vice President, QS.
world ranking
Globally, the University of Toronto was ranked at the top this year, ahead of 2nd place ETH Zurich, Sweden’s Lund University, and the University of California Berkeley (UCB) in 3rd place.
This time, seven African universities made it into the top 500. The University of Cape Town was ranked 45th, the highest in the region. Cairo University is ranked 370th. Australia has 14 universities in the top 100, with the University of Melbourne remaining in ninth place. QUT is the only Australian institution to improve its ranking.
2025 Ranking 2024 Ranking Institution Country 1 1 University of Toronto Canada 2 18 ETH Zurich Switzerland 3 8 Lund University Sweden 3 2 University of California, Berkeley (UCB) USA 5 189 UCL UK 5 4 University of British Columbia Canada 7 6 Imperial College London UK 7 15 University of Edinburgh UK 9 3 University of Manchester UK 9 9 University of Melbourne, Australia
In Asia, six universities from four countries are ranked within the top 100, with the University of Tokyo ranking highest at 44th place. There are 114 universities in mainland China that are ranked first, with Fudan University ranked 133rd. Despite having the second-highest number of entries, no mainland Chinese universities made it into the top 100. Fudan University, China’s top-performing university, rose nine places to 133rd place.
The United States topped the list in terms of representation, with 239 institutions ranked. The University of California, Berkeley, tied for third place, but its average score falls short of Europe and Australia. The UK has 26 universities in the world’s top 100 and more universities in the top 10 than any other country. The University of Sheffield is ranked 27th in the world. EHT Zurich is Europe’s top university, rising to second place. Sweden’s Lund University also made significant progress, moving from eighth to tied for third thanks to improved environmental education. New Zealand has the highest average score with all eight universities ranked within the top 500. The University of Auckland is at the top, ranked 17th in the world.
