According to the 3rd edition of the “QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025” released by the Quacquarelli Symonds(QS), global higher education experts, the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) in New Delhi (Delhi) has topped among all Indian universities featured on the list and has secured 171st position globally with an overall score of 80.6. It has improved its ranking by 255 places compared to 426th spot in the last year.
- IIT-D is followed by IIT Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) in Kharagpur, West Bengal (WB) and IIT Bombay (IIT-B) in Mumbai, Maharashtra ranked at 202nd and 234th position, respectively.
- The University of Toronto, Canada has topped the list as the world’s most sustainable university, followed by the ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland ranked at 2nd position.
- Lund University in Sweden and University of California, Berkeley (UCB), the United States of America (USA), jointly ranked at 3rd spot on the list.
QS World University Rankings on Sustainability 2025:
i.It has covered over 1,740 universities representing 107 countries and territories.
ii.The universities are ranked based on their performance assessed across 3 main categories:
- Environmental Impact (45%): It includes 3 sub-indicators: Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Education and Environmental Research.
- Social Impact (45%): It further includes 5 sub-indicators: equality, knowledge exchange, impact of education, employability & outcomes, and health & well being
- Governance (10%): It includes indicators related to good governance such as ethics, hiring practices, transparency and decision making.
iii.This year, a total 461 institutions have improved their overall rankings, 350 new entrants, and 5 universities debuted into the top 20.
Top 5 Universities in 2025:
| Rank | Name of the University | Name of the Country or Region | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Toronto | Toronto, Canada | 100 |
| 2 | ETH Zurich | Zurich, Switzerland | 99.6 |
| 3 | Lund University | City of Lund, Sweden | 98.8 |
| University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | California,the United States of America (USA) | ||
| 5 | University of British Columbia | Vancouver, Canada | 98.6 |
| University College London (UCL) | London, the United Kingdom (UK) |
Top 5 Indian Universities/Institutes:
| Rank | Name of the University | Location | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 171 | Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi (IIT-D) | New Delhi, Delhi | 80.6 |
| 202 | Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) | Kharagpur, West Bengal (WB) | 78.6 |
| 234 | Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (IIT-B) | Mumbai, Maharashtra | 76.1 |
| 245 | Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) | Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh(UP) | 75.6 |
| 277 | Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT-M) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu(TN) | 74 |
Key Highlights:
i.The USA with 239 institutions, has emerged as the most represented country on the list.
ii.The UK has 26 universities featured in the world’s top 100 and more top 10 universities compared to any other country.
iii.7 universities from Africa region ranked in the top 500. The University of Cape Town in South Africa (ranked at 45th spot), is the highest ranked university in this region.
iv.A total of 6 universities from 4 Asian countries ranked among the world’s top 100.
- The University of Tokyo (Japan) with an overall ranking of 44th, is the highest ranked university from Asia region.
- Total 114 universities from Mainland China ranked on the list, led by Fudan University (ranked at 133rd spot). No university from Mainland China featured in the top 100.
v.All 8 universities from New Zealand have been featured in the top 500 (achieving the highest average score) and is led by The University of Auckland (ranked at 17th).
India-Specific:
i.This latest edition of the rankings has featured 78 Indian universities on the list, of which 34 have improved their rankings compared to last year and 8 have maintained their previous rankings.
- Among the top 10 Indian institutions, 9 have improved their overall ranking and 21 Indian institutions/universities debuted on the list.
ii.The University of Delhi (DU) is the only Indian varsity which has witnessed decline in its ranking as it dropped from 220th (in 2023) to 299th spot, but it still appeared 6th on the Indian list.
iii.Top 3 Indian Universities/ Institutes on:
- Environmental Impact category: IIT-D (55th); Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh (UP))-based IIT-K (87th) and IIT-B (101st).
- Knowledge Exchange lens: DU (121st); Vellore (TN)-based Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) (161st); and IIT-KGP (197th).
iv.Among the Indian institutions featured on the list, IIT-D topped in the category of Social Impact (ranked at 362nd spot) as well in two lenses i.e. Employability and Outcomes (116th) and Environment Research (256th).
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, Karnataka, ranked at 32nd spot globally in the Environment Education lens. It is the only Indian institute to be featured among the world’s top 50 in this category.
v.Manipal (Karnataka)-based Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) or Manipal University, ranked at 390th spot globally, is the top ranked Indian university both in ‘Governance’ category and in the ‘Equality’ lens.
About Quacquarelli Symonds (QS):
Founder and President- Nunzio Quacquarelli
Headquarters- London, the United Kingdom (UK)
