Research is becoming a strength

One of the clearest explanations for India's rise is improving research performance.

Historically, many Indian universities struggled to convert academic strength into internationally visible research impact. Over the past decade, however, research productivity, citation performance and international collaboration have become strategic priorities for institutions and policymakers alike.

The results are increasingly evident. India now has 11 universities ranked among the world's top 100 institutions for research impact indicators. In the QS Subject Rankings, Indian institutions recorded one of the strongest improvement trajectories globally, with 44 percent of ranked programmes improving their position year-on-year.

The growing visibility of Indian research is not confined to engineering and technology alone. Universities are increasingly making progress across business, management, medicine, social sciences and emerging interdisciplinary fields. Research activity is also becoming more aligned with national priorities. Universities are expanding work in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and healthcare innovation.

Increased funding opportunities, stronger publication incentives, industry collaboration and growing international partnerships are helping institutions improve both research volume and quality.

Employability is strengthening India’s global reputation

Indian institutions are performing increasingly well on Employer Reputation and Employment Outcomes, two indicators that have become especially important in an era of heightened focus on graduate outcomes.

Six Indian universities now rank among the world’s top 100 for Employer Reputation. The University of Delhi, for example, is ranked among the global leaders for Employment Outcomes, reflecting strong links between higher education and the labour market.

These gains mirror broader changes taking place across the Indian economy. As sectors such as technology, digital services, advanced manufacturing and innovation continue to expand, universities have responded by strengthening industry engagement, redesigning curricula, increasing internship opportunities and investing in entrepreneurship ecosystems.

For students and families, employability has become one of the most important measures of institutional quality. For universities, it has become a key source of international competitiveness.

The policy environment behind the progress

While institutional efforts have been critical, policy reforms have been central to this transformation. The visionary National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has provided a long-term framework designed around four core ambitions: improving access, enhancing quality, strengthening research and innovation, and improving learning outcomes. At the same time, it has placed internationalisation and global competitiveness at the centre of higher education reform.

The policy has encouraged universities to become more multidisciplinary, research-intensive and globally engaged. Under NEP, new regulatory frameworks have supported academic credit mobility, joint and dual degrees, international partnerships and greater institutional autonomy, providing universities with more flexibility to innovate and collaborate.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, higher education reform is increasingly being aligned with India’s broader economic aspirations. Through initiatives such as the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), investments in innovation and research ecosystems, and support for emerging technologies, universities are being positioned as critical drivers of innovation, productivity and talent development, advancing India’s ambition of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

In this context, rankings are increasingly viewed not simply as measures of prestige, but as indicators of national capability.

Internationalisation is moving from aspiration to action

The rise in rankings also has a second-order effect: it reduces perceived collaboration risk for international partners. As India becomes more visible in global league tables, foreign universities, industry partners and research institutions are more willing to engage.

This willingness is already visible in the growing number of international campuses, research collaborations and transnational education models entering the Indian market. The UGC framework has enabled new pathways for foreign institutions, while GIFT City has added a more flexible, business-friendly route for branch campuses and offshore education centres.

Deakin University, the University of Wollongong, the University of Southampton, Illinois Institute of Technology and several others are now operating or moving into the market, signalling that India is no longer just exporting talent. It is beginning to host global institutions too.

This is where the rankings story becomes especially important. The next phase is not merely about representation in rankings. It is about converting domestic strength into global influence. That means more joint research, more faculty exchanges, more co-created programmes, more international classrooms in India and a more deliberate effort to design the student experience so that global quality is felt, not just claimed.

India’s rise in the QS rankings should therefore be read as a national capability story. It shows that policy reform can change institutional behaviour, that quality can spread beyond a few centres of excellence and that global competitiveness can be built at scale. The challenge now is to sustain momentum. That will require continued investment in faculty, research and student experience, deeper reform across affiliated colleges and a stronger internationalisation strategy that connects Indian universities to the wider world.