Several top-tier Indian institutions, particularly the premier IITs, experienced substantial rank declines in the QS Asia Rankings 2026. Paradoxically, the ranks of some of the IITs improved in QS global rankings 2026. At the same time, ranks of a number of institutions in China and Hong Kong improved dramatically in QS Asia 2026. This article analyses the reasons for the anomaly and the performance gaps, proposes measures for strengthening India’s position in global ranking.

The 2026 edition of the QS Asia rankings featured 1,526 higher education institutions across Asia, 557 of which are new entries, 260 from China and 137 from India. Mainland China is the most represented country, with 394 ranked institutions, three in the top 10 and 25 in the top 100. Out of 11 universities ranked from Hong Kong , nine have moved up ,with five figuring in the top 10. India has 294 universities in this year’s Rankings with only seven universities featuring on the top 100. Not just that, as many as 110 institutions have gone down by over 10 ranks whereas 33 moved up by at least 10 ranks.

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