For the first time ever, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)’s Indian Agricultural Research Institute, also known as IARI, has been ranked in the QS World University Rankings of 2026 in the agriculture and forestry category.
The rankings were released on Wednesday. IARI features in the 151–200 band in subject ranking along with Banaras Hindu University and IIT Kharagpur. IARI, also known as PUSA-IARI, was set up to provide leadership for science-led, sustainable, and globally competitive agriculture for food, nutrition, and livelihood security.
IARI conducts basic, strategic, and anticipatory research in field and horticultural crops for enhanced productivity and quality, and research in frontier areas to develop resource-use-efficient integrated crop management technologies for sustainable agricultural production systems.
It also serves as a centre for academic excellence in postgraduate education and human resource development in agricultural science. It provides national leadership in agricultural research, education, extension, and technology assessment and transfer by developing new concepts and approaches and serving as a national reference point for quality and standards.
Apart from IARI, the QS university rankings also feature four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani, among the world’s top 50 institutions for different subjects.
London-based QS Quacquarelli Symonds, known for the university rankings, has published the 16th annual edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject.
The rankings benchmark more than 21,000 academic programmes across 1,900 universities in over 100 countries, spanning 55 disciplines and five broad faculty areas.
According to the rankings, India records 27 top 50 positions across subjects and broad faculty areas—more than double the 12 recorded in 2024—earned by 12 institutions. Leading the individual charge is the Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad, ranked 21st globally in Mineral and Mining Engineering, and IIM Ahmedabad, which ranks 21st in both Business and Management Studies and Marketing. The latter is a subject debut—India has never before appeared in Marketing’s global rankings. Among the top 50 are IIT Bombay, Kharagpur, and Madras; JNU; and BITS Pilani.
“India’s rise this year is not just about scale: it’s about momentum in quality and global competitiveness. The breadth of improvement across engineering, technology, and business signals a system that is accelerating with intent. The next phase will be defined by how effectively institutions deepen research strength, build global partnerships, and sharpen their distinctiveness on the world stage,” said Jessica Turner, CEO, QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
IIT Delhi has delivered the edition’s most complete single-institution performance. It records six top-50 entries, leads India in four subjects—Chemical Engineering (48th, its first top-50 appearance), Electrical and Electronic Engineering (36th), Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (44th, best in over a decade), and the Engineering and Technology broad area (36th)—and ranks second in Computer Science at 45th.
