Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi is the top university from India to rank in the QS World University Rankings, Sustainability 2025. The institute has an overall score of 80.6 and ranks 171 globally, jumping 255 places. The second rank is occupied by Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) with an overall score of 78.6 and global rank of 202. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) ranks at the third place with an overall score of 76.1 and a global rank of 234.
IIT Kanpur ranks at the fourth place and IIT Madras is at the fifth place. University of Delhi and Indian Institute of Science rank at the sixth and seventh place respectively.
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore is at the eighth place, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka is at the ninth place and Anna University, Chennai is ranked at the tenth place.
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.
University of Toronto, Canada has emerged as the top university in 2025 QS World University Rankings, Sustainability. The rankings have been compiled using a methodology comprised of indicators designed to measure an institution's ability to tackle the world's greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges.
News agency PTI quoted Ben Sowter, vice president of London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) as saying, "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."
"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.
Citing the latest QS International Students Survey, Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, said, "Sustainability is a top priority for today's students, with nine in 10 identifying it as important and 40 per cent actively researching universities' sustainability strategies during the application process." This underscores the urgency for sustainability to remain at the forefront of institutional agendas, she said.
"The progress reflected in this year's QS Sustainability Rankings — marked by 461 institutions improving their positions, 350 new entrants, and five universities breaking into the top 20 for the first time — highlights the growing global efforts by higher education institutions to address sustainability challenges. However, despite some strong performances of universities in our rankings, there is still much to be done," she added.
QS' methodology for the 'World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025' is based on university performance across three assessment categories -- Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance.
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.
(With inputs from PTI)
