Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

How is Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad ranked in 2026?

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad is ranked #7 in the NIRF Engineering 2025 list and has broken into the global top 400 in the QS World University Rankings 2026 by Subject for Engineering and Technology at rank #395. That QS subject rank is the headline achievement of the cycle: IIT Hyderabad jumped from the 501-550 band in 2025 to #395 in 2026, a leap of over 100 places confirmed by the official IITH press office. In the broader QS World University Rankings 2026 (overall), the institute placed #664 globally with a score of 26.40, up from the 681-690 band in 2025. For an aspirant, the takeaway is simple: IIT Hyderabad is now firmly inside India's top 7 engineering institutes and is rising fast on the world stage, despite being a second-generation IIT founded only in 2008.

What makes the 2026 picture remarkable is the breadth of the improvement. Six engineering disciplines at IIT Hyderabad placed in the global top 300 in the QS Subject 2026 rankings, including Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering. This is the first time since NIRF began that a second-generation IIT has entered the elite top-7 engineering club previously held only by the seven first-generation IITs, making IIT Hyderabad's 2025-2026 standing a genuine outlier among the newer IITs.

Year-Wise Rankings

The table below consolidates IIT Hyderabad's verified ranks across the major ranking bodies for 2024, 2025 and 2026, covering NIRF (national) and QS (global and India-specific). It answers the core question every applicant asks: where does IIT Hyderabad actually stand, and on which list? Read it body-by-body: NIRF measures Indian engineering institutes, the QS World ranks place IITH against global universities, the QS Subject rank isolates Engineering and Technology, and the QS India rank shows its domestic standing in QS's methodology. The "Score" column reflects the value published by each body for that year.

The clearest trend is the dramatic 2026 surge in the QS Subject ranking, where IIT Hyderabad moved from a wide 501-550 band straight into the global top 400 at #395 for Engineering and Technology. On NIRF Engineering, the institute has held a strong #7 position into 2025, a level that places it shoulder-to-shoulder with the original IITs. For applicants, these figures signal an institute whose global research reputation is catching up rapidly to its already-established national standing.

Ranking Trajectory of Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad's trajectory points firmly upward across every major list. The single most important move is in the QS World University Rankings by Subject for Engineering and Technology, where IITH leapt from the 501-550 band in 2025 to rank #395 in 2026, an improvement of more than 100 places that pushed it into the global top 400 for the first time. This was confirmed by IIT Hyderabad's own official channels and reflects rising scores on research-driven metrics.

On the QS World University Rankings (overall), the climb has been steady and consistent. IIT Hyderabad sat in the 691-700 band in 2024, improved to the 681-690 band in 2025, and then jumped to a firm single number of #664 globally (score 26.40) in 2026. Much of this gain is attributed to research influence: IIT Hyderabad now ranks in the top 10% of global institutions on Citations per Faculty, the metric where it recorded its strongest growth.

Domestically, the NIRF Engineering trajectory is equally telling. IIT Hyderabad reached #7 in NIRF Engineering 2025 (holding #7 from 2024, score 79.10), marking the first time a second-generation IIT has entered the top-7 engineering club historically reserved for the first-generation IITs. On the QS India overall list, the institute moved from #9 (score 74.70) in 2024 to #10 (score 74.20) in 2025, keeping it inside the country's top 10 even as competition tightened. Taken together, the trajectory signals an institute consolidating elite national status while accelerating its global ascent.

How Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad Compares

The table below positions IIT Hyderabad against the benchmarks that matter to an applicant: its own national rank, its global subject standing, and the underlying cost and outcome figures that define value. Use it to weigh how the institute's #7 NIRF Engineering 2025 rank and #395 QS Subject 2026 rank translate into real fees and placement returns. The figures are drawn from IIT Hyderabad's official fee structure and the most recent placement reporting.

Against its peer set, IIT Hyderabad stands out as the only second-generation IIT to break into the NIRF Engineering top 7, a tier otherwise occupied by IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee. Its QS Subject 2026 rank of #395 places it within reach of several first-generation IITs on the global Engineering and Technology list. For an aspirant, the comparison is favourable: IIT Hyderabad pairs a top-7 national reputation and a rapidly rising global profile with fees and placement outcomes consistent with the established IITs, making it a strong-value choice among the newer IITs.