The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has made its debut in Times Higher Education's ranking of the world's best universities, taking India's representation in top 300 to two.
IISc shares its number-one position among Indian institutions with Panjab University, which first appeared on the list last year.
The bad news, however, is that no Indian institution figures among top 200 globally. And, IISc's position, along with Panjab University's, is between 276th and 300th. This also means the latter's ranking has slipped from last year, when it was between 226th and 250th.
The total number of institutions ranked worldwide is 400. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings uses 13 separate performance indicators to examine a university's strengths against its core missions: Teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top-200 list now features 28 countries, compared with 26 last year - Italy and Russia joined this year. Participation in the rankings is voluntary and free of charge.
There are 11 countries with one representative each in the top 200. There is an equal number keeping India company with no presence in top 200 - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Iran, Macau, Poland, Portugal and Thailand.
Last year, four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) - Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Roorkee - figured in the 351-400 ranking band. IIT Bombay has joined the list in this band this year (it wasn't ranked last year). IIT Roorkee has retained its place this year, too. Till the time of going to press, it was not known whether the other three IITs had made it to the rankings or some other Indian institutes had joined the list for top 400.
Many leading Asian institutions, meanwhile, continue to go up the order. The number of Asian universities in top 200 has risen to 24 (from last year's 20). Of these, six are among top 50 and two among top 25.
Last year, with two of its universities in top 200 and six in the 201-400 band, China scored better than India. Also, Taiwan had one university in top 200 and seven in the 251-400 band.
"It is good news that India now has two universities in top 300, against only one last year. This is thanks to the participation of IISc, which can now be included in the analysis after starting to admit undergraduate students," says Phil Baty, editor, Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Baty, however, says it should be a cause for serious concern that a country of India's size, which is growing in economic strength and has a great intellectual history, still does not have a top-200 entrant. "It does not seem to be making enough progress up the rankings. The world rankings are extremely competitive, as many countries put serious resources into improving the global profile and performance of universities, as part of their economic growth plans; India needs to ensure it does not fall far behind."