IIT Delhi leads Indian varsities in sustainability, IISc in world's top 50 for environment education: QS Rankings

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi is at top among universities in India for sustainability, climbing the table by 255 places to reach 171 globally, according to QS Rankings announced on Tuesday.

A total of 78 Indian universities have featured in the 2025 QS Sustainability rankings, with nine of the top 10 institutions in the country improving their ranking this year and 21 new institutions making an entry.

IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur have been ranked among the world's top 100 for environmental impact.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has been ranked among world's top 50 for environment education.

"Of the 78 Indian universities that feature in the 2025 QS Sustainability rankings,

34 have improved on last year’s placing and eight have maintained their positions.

"This is an excellent achievement for the Indian higher education ecosystem and shows that Indian universities are forging ahead with their sustainability initiatives," said Ben Sowter, Vice President of London-based QS.

"Within the Social Impact category, Indian universities can look to improve their indicator scores in the Health and Wellbeing, Impact of Education and Equality lenses, where no institutions from the country feature in the top 350. Universities from India scored better in the Knowledge Exchange and Employability and Outcomes lenses," Sowter added.

The 2025 rankings showcase over 1,740 universities from 107 countries and territories, reflecting significant growth from the previous edition, which included 1,397 institutions across 95 locations.

The University of Toronto is the top ranked university this year, ahead of ETH Zurich which got second place, and Lund University in Sweden and University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in joint third.