India poised to become 2nd-best represented country in Times Higher Education rankings

India will break new ground and become the world's second-best represented country, after the US, in the 2026 Times Higher Education ranking, Times Higher Education Chief Global Affairs Officer Phil Baty said.

The remarks were made by Baty in a statement to mark the fifth anniversary of the new National Education Policy (NEP).

"In the world rankings 2026, to be released at the World Academic Summit on 8 October this year, India will set new records to emerge as the second best represented country in the world after the US. So the figures make it clear that India's universities are rubbing shoulders more and more with the global research elite of the world.".

"But on a different, and quite distinct, set of performance measures based on their social and economic impact, India's universities are also beginning to truly excel," he stated.

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (re-launched for 2026 as Sustainability Impact Ratings) gauge the social and economic impact of universities against their contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities are measured on their education, research, community engagement and stewardship of resources through hundreds of metrics across all 17 of the UN SDGs.

Baty wrote that the National Education Policy of 2020 in India was so innovative and so ambitious that several claimed at its introduction five years ago that it was just too ambitious to work. ".but exactly five years since the NEP 2020 was officially launched, there is a body of independent evidence accruing which, in spite of the dramatic pandemic disruption caused by COVID, the ambitious vision is now becoming a reality at rapid speed.".

"Indeed, when it comes to ambitions to enhance the quality of higher education and to finally adopt full internationalisation of Indian higher education, Times Higher Education data are unambiguous -- the plans are paying off," he stated.

In 2019, the year before NEP2020, India had 49 universities in the rankings – a share of around four per cent of all ranked universities. In the 2026 edition, India's representation will have almost tripled to 128 ranked universities, representing nearly six per cent of all ranked universities.

"This outstanding achievement is an expression of a country-wide commitment by Indian universities to gather improved data, to come forward and put themselves up to global data benchmarking, to place themselves on the international stage with the world's leading research universities -- and most importantly to become an observable and active member of the global higher education community, where research partnership and talent exchange can assist them to excel even more.".

"And it is not only in representation that India is making outstanding gains. There is also a quality improvement. So the evidence is clear that India's universities are rubbing shoulders with the world's leading research elite. But according to a further, quite different set of performance indicators based on their social and economic contribution, India's universities are beginning to shine as well," he stated.