India has lost its top spot as the most represented higher education system in the 2026 QS World University Rankings for Asia to China, after two years, with nine out of its ten highest-ranked institutions slipping in rank from last year. India now stands second in Asia.

According to this year’s rankings, 137 Indian universities entered the list, bringing the country’s total to 294, while China added 261 institutions, reaching a total of 395. Overall, 1,529 universities featured in the rankings this year.

Institutions from Hong Kong, China, and Singapore dominated the top 10. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi was India’s top-performing university, placed jointly at 59th, a 15-place drop from its 44th position last year. IIT Bombay also fell from 48th to 71st this year.

Seven of India’s top 10 institutions are IITs — Delhi, Madras, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, and Guwahati — along with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, Delhi University, and Chandigarh University. Of these, only Chandigarh University improved its ranking, rising from 120th to 109th. In total, seven Indian universities ranked in the top 100, 20 in the top 200, and 66 in the top 500.