India’s higher ed system comprises 685 government universities — 240 Central and 445 state government institutions. Together they teach 74 percent of the 43.3 million youth enrolled in the country’s higher education system

After EducationWorld was launched in 1999 a new energy and spirit of dynamism has become manifest in India’s 1.4 million schools, 45,000 colleges and 1,168 universities

Although over the past decade, the country’s new-genre capital-intensive private universities — they have multiplied from 276 in 2015-16 to 455 in 2023-24 — are offering stiff competition to the country’s government/public universities, the latter continue to dominate the Indian higher education ecosystem which comprises 685 government universities — 240 Central and 445 state government institutions. Together they teach 74 percent of the 43.3 million youth enrolled in the country’s higher education system. On the other hand, a mere 26.3 percent of youth in tertiary education are enrolled in the country’s 455 private universities.

In particular, India’s 445 state government universities have an outsize impact on the higher ed system. Over 45,000 undergraduate colleges countrywide are affiliated with them. State government universities prescribe the academic syllabuses, sanction new study programmes, conduct examinations and award degrees of affiliated colleges. Moreover, because both Central and state government varsities offer heavily subsidised higher education, they are more popular and preferred over relatively pricey private universities.

In 2020, the annual EducationWorld India Higher Education Rankings, which hitherto ranked only privately promoted higher education institutions, were expanded to also rank best government universities. Subsequently, in 2022, under the categories of private and government universities, institutions were further sub-divided according to subject specialisation, to provide level playing field comparisons.

To compile the EW Best Government University Rankings 2025-26, the Bengaluru-based market research company AZ Research Partners Pvt. Ltd (estb.2002) interviewed 2,100 sample respondents comprising higher education faculty, students and industry representatives in 22 states countrywide. These respondents were persuaded to award government universities of whom they have sufficient knowledge, perceptual scores of 1-300 under ten parameters of higher education excellence.

Since the subject-wise sub-division of government universities in 2022, Delhi University (DU, estb.1922) has consistently been ranked India #1 in the multi-disciplinary category of the annual EWHIER. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has strongly recommended that all colleges and universities transform into multidisciplinary degree awarding universities as early as possible. Therefore multidisciplinary university rankings assume great importance.

Although this year’s sample respondents have again voted DU India’s #1 government multidisciplinary university, it is co-ranked with the Maharashtra state government-funded University of Mumbai (UoM estb.1857) ranked #2 in 2024-25 and #1 in 2022-23. This year UoM is awarded top scores under the parameters of curriculum and pedagogy, faculty welfare and development, industry interface and placements.

Prof. Ravindra Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor of UoM, is delighted this vintage varsity has regained its numero uno ranking of 2022-23. “It’s good to be back at the top where we belong. This is the outcome of the dedication of our highly competent faculty, robust governance, strong research output and effective graduates placement. I am especially pleased with our top scores under the parameters of industry interface and placements. Our proactive efforts to integrate practical industry knowledge into our academic programmes, ready collaboration with industry by way of internships, workshops has resulted in excellent placement of our graduates. To further upgrade, we are engaged in talks with top foreign universities to introduce dual, joint and twinning degree programmes to provide global exposure to our students,” says Kulkarni, an alumnus of the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (ICT) and RMT University, Nagpur, appointed vice chancellor of UoM in 2023. Currently, UoM has 781 affiliated colleges with an aggregate 800,000 students and 8,000 faculty.

Beyond #1, there’s been a rearrangement of seating in the government multidisciplinary universities Top 10 league table. Banaras Hindu University is promoted to #2 (#3 in 2024-25) at the cost of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi ranked #3. Jadavpur University, Kolkata is promoted to #4 (#5); Savitribai Phule Pune University to #5 (#8) and University of Hyderabad to #6 (#7). Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has lost ground at #7 (#6) and Panjab University, Chandigarh is promoted to #8 even as Alagappa University, Karaikudi, ranked #9 (#12) and Bangalore City University at #10 (#17) have been promoted to the Top 10 table.

Prof. G. Ravi, Vice Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu state government-funded Alagappa University, Karaikudi (AUK) is elated about AUK’s entry into the Top 10 league table of India’s best government multidisciplinary universities with high scores under the parameters of faculty competence, faculty welfare and development and curriculum and pedagogy.

“We are thankful that AUK has made it into the national Top 10 of government multidisciplinary universities. I attribute our promotion to the consistent efforts of our faculty, students and management to innovate and excel. Especially rewarding are the high scores awarded to AUK for faculty competence and curriculum and pedagogy. These are our strengths. Our faculty has 11,507 cited publications to its credit. Moreover, our dedicated curriculum design and development cell continuously upgrades curriculums to national and international standards,” says Ravi, an alum of Bharathidasan and Anna universities who signed up with AUK in 1995 as lecturer, and was appointed as VC in 2022. Sited on a 435-acre campus in Karaikudi (80 km from Madurai), AUK has 45 affiliated colleges in the districts of Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram with an aggregate enrolment of 120,000 students.

Yet the highlight of the 2025-26 EW league table of India’s best government multidisciplinary universities is the great leap forward in the public esteem of Bangalore City University (BCU), from #17 in 2024-25 into the Top 10 with high scores under the parameters of faculty competence, infrastructure and range/diversity of programmes. Established in 2017 after trifurcation of Bangalore University, BCU has over 240 colleges in Karnataka, including the top-ranked Mount Carmel and St. Joseph’s colleges, affiliated with it.

“This is great news and acknowledgement of the great strides and progress BCU has made over the past five years. Since trifurcation, our enrolment has grown from 400 to 5,000 students; we have introduced several new-age degree programmes and skill development courses, and upgraded campus infrastructure and facilities. The introduction of study programmes in emerging disciplines such as data science, artificial intelligence, business analytics has boosted student enrolment. There is a lot of development activity within BCU. Under our Rs.168-crore campus development plan, new classrooms, labs and sports facilities have been added. Moreover, BCU has signed collaboration agreements with several foreign universities including Birmingham City and Wolverhampton, UK. Our entry into the Top 10 is proof of BCU’s rapid evolution into a progressive 21st century multidisciplinary university,” says Prof. Lingaraja Gandhi, Vice Chancellor of BCU. An alum of Mysore University with 39 years of teaching, research and administrative experience including stints as registrar of Karnataka State Open and Mysore universities, Dr. Gandhi was appointed VC in 2021.

The enthusiasm for institutional reform and upgradation discernible in usually somnolent government universities is a welcome development. Because aggregate enrolment in Central and state government universities estimated at 32 million students far exceeds enrolments in India’s 455 private universities.

Therefore, attainment of the country’s 2047 Viksit Bharat and $30 trillion GDP goals are heavily dependent upon vertiginous improvement of teaching-learning and research standards in India’s government universities and 45,000 affiliated colleges.