India loses ground in Asia University ranking, 2015

New Delhi: Indian universities continue to lag way behind other institutes in a latest ranking of Asian universities that is dominated by varsities from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and China.

According to the Times Higher Education Asia University Ranking 2015, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore comes closest at 37th place and Punjab University at 38th position, down six places from last year, according to a statement issued by ranking body.

"India's progress has faltered, it has nine top 100 universities, one fewer than last year," added the statement.

The IIT's of Roorkee, Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur and Madras, besides Aligaarh Muslim University and Jawaharlal Nehru University figure among the top 100, though their rankings have come down from last year.

University of Tokyo continued to retain the top position while Natipnal University of Singapore and University of Hong Kong retained the second and third place respectively.

Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea had each three universities in the top 20 list along with two universities from China and two from Turkey.

Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, said "It is a cause for concern that India has lost ground in the league table. With the country's massive numbers of under 25s putting further pressure on educational resources, it is more crucial than ever that India invests in research and strengthens its academic links with other nations or face being left behind," he said.