Union Education Minister addresses at the Unveiling of QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ today addressed at the unveiling of QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021. Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog; Chairman, UGC, Prof Dhirendra P Singh; Chairman, NAAC, Dr Virendar S Chauhan, Chairman, AICTE, Dr Anil D Sahasrabudhe; Vice President, QS Rankings, Mr Ben Sowter, Head of Evaluation, QS Rankings, Leigh Kamolins, Head of Institutions being felicitated today and other dignitaries were also virtually present on the occasion.

Addressing on the occasion, the Minister expressed his happiness and congratulated 12 Indian Institutions on securing position in top 100 in the QS Subject Rankings for the year 2021. He said, over the last few years the Government’s continuous focus on improvement and reform in Indian higher education has resulted in significant improvement in the representation of Indian institutions in globally acclaimed and reputed rankings like QS. These rankings and ratings have fostered healthy competition amongst Indian Institutions motivating them towards global excellence, he added.

12 Indian institutions have made it to the top 100 of the world – IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IISC Bangalore, IIT Guwahati,, IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, JNU, Anna University, University of Delhi, and O.P Jindal University .

Amongst these top 100 ranked institutions, IIT Madras has been ranked 30th in the world for Petroleum Engineering, IIT Bombay has been ranked 41st and IIT Kharagpur has been ranked 44th in the world for Minerals and Mining Engineering, and University of Delhi has been ranked 50th in the world for Development Studies.

Union Minister said India’s higher education system plays a vital role in driving the nation’s competitiveness. Today, India is a leading nation with the highest number of higher education institutions across the globe with significant progress in the last few years in terms of enrolment in higher education which now stands at 37.4 million. He also highlighted the achievements of the Government in addressing the gender gap in higher education, wherein now women constitute 48.6% of the total enrolment.

Shri Pokhriyal said new reforms have been brought through NEP 2020 in the Indian Education system under the able leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Speaking on NEP, he said it stresses on transforming Indian Higher Education into a knowledge superpower in the 21st century. It also has a forward-looking vision for holistic and multidisciplinary education, eliminating the rigid separation of streams. It paves the way towards internationalisation of education and encourages top world-ranked universities to open campuses in India. The future roadmap for the implementation of the policy needs active participation of all stakeholders, he added.