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IIT Delhi Surpasses IIT Bombay: The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Rankings for Asia 2025 has been released, revealing significant changes among India’s top institutions in the regional rankings. This year, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi), achieved the highest national rank in India, surpassing IIT Bombay.
IIT Delhi soared to 44th in Asia, up from 46th last year, while IIT Bombay dropped from 40th to 48th. This reshuffling demonstrates IIT Delhi’s progress in key academic and institutional indices, extending its lead over IIT Bombay.
Leading Indian engineering institutes featured in the QS Asia 2025 Rankings
While IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay remain the foremost universities in India, other Indian institutions also made significant appearances on the list, albeit with some declines in rankings. IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IISc Bangalore, and IIT Kanpur all observed slight drops. IIT Madras fell from 53rd to 56th, IISc Bangalore from 58th to 62nd, and IIT Kanpur from 63rd to 67th. The marginal drops seen in these prestigious institutions highlight the increasing competition within Asia’s dynamic academic landscape.

IIT Delhi’s rise over IIT Bombay: A comparative analysis of key performance metrics

IIT Delhi’s ascension to India’s top rank is attributed to marked improvements across several key metrics that the QS Rankings assess, particularly in areas where IIT Bombay has traditionally excelled. Let’s examine each parameter to understand how IIT Delhi achieved its higher ranking.
Citations per paper: IIT Delhi’s remarkable progress
One of the most significant differences this year was in “Citations per Paper,” a metric measuring research impact through the average citations received per published paper. IIT Delhi’s score in this category surged from 14.2 in 2024 to an impressive 26.9 in 2025. In contrast, IIT Bombay scored 16.9, a modest improvement from its previous score of 9.3 but still trailing IIT Delhi.
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Academic reputation: An area of growth for both institutes
Academic reputation, an indicator of an institution’s standing among scholars, witnessed improvements for both IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay. IIT Delhi’s score jumped from 79.4 to 95, reflecting a substantial boost in its recognition and influence among global academics. IIT Bombay, however, maintained its edge with a slightly higher score of 96.6.
Staff with PhD: IIT Delhi closes the gap
The ‘Staff with PhD’ metric evaluates the percentage of academic staff holding a doctoral degree, a sign of faculty expertise. While IIT Bombay has traditionally excelled in this area with a score of 96.3, IIT Delhi made remarkable gains, raising its score from 75.4 to 94.7.
Employer reputation: Narrowing differences
Employer reputation, reflecting the perception of an institution’s graduates in the job market, is a crucial parameter where IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay are nearly equal. IIT Bombay scored a strong 99.5, closely followed by IIT Delhi at 99.
Faculty-student ratio: A strong point for IIT Delhi
The faculty-student ratio is an indicator of educational quality and individual attention available to students. Here, IIT Delhi showed a notable increase from 24.1 to 27.2, while IIT Bombay improved only marginally from 14.8 to 17.9.
Papers per faculty: Consistency amidst competition
In the “Papers per Faculty” metric, which reflects research productivity, both IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay scored high, with minimal difference between their scores of 95.2 and 96.2, respectively. This metric shows the universities’ similar dedication to research output per faculty member.

IIT Delhi vs IIT Bombay: Who performed better in NIRF 2024 rankings?

Notably, earlier this year, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024 ranked the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) third overall with a score of 81.37, while the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) followed closely in fourth place, scoring 80.31. This close ranking reflects the strong performance of both institutions across various NIRF criteria, underscoring their positions as top academic and research hubs in India.
Here’s an overview of how these two top engineering institutes performed across rankings-