These are India’s 8 best universities
Technology institutes dominate the Times Higher Education ranking Image: REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
India
From a university housed in a former prison to a college founded to help the construction of a canal, these are India’s best universities.
Eight Indian institutions make it into the world’s top 600 of the latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking, which assesses nearly 1,000 institutions across the globe.
The index points out that, along with China, India has bucked the trend of poor performance among BRICS and developing nations.
Indian technology institutes dominate the list. These are autonomous public institutions, the first of which was established at Kharagpur in 1951 on the site of the old Hijli Detention Camp.
In total, six institutions make the list.
Originally the Thomason College of Engineering, then the University of Roorkee, the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is one of India’s oldest universities. According to the THE, the institution was created during the construction of the Ganga Canal. It was founded to train the engineers working on the project.
Expanding higher education in India
India’s huge population offers a massive potential labour pool. With its population set to exceed China’s by 2022, the training of its citizens is vital if the country is to take advantage.
The government is working to expand access to, as well as the quality of, higher education.
The Department of Higher Education wants to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to 30% by 2020. The government also hopes to promote the inclusion of groups currently underrepresented.
By 2025, over 250 million young people are set to enter the Indian workforce. As the world becomes increasingly digital, creating an appropriately skilled workforce is vital.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Education and SkillsSee all
Andrea Willige
October 4, 2024
Carlos Sanvee
September 6, 2024
Sagar Goel, Joerg Hildebrandt, Leila Hoteit and Sriramprasad Rangarajan
August 15, 2024
Phil Baty
August 5, 2024
Rebecca Geldard
July 31, 2024