A record-breaking 31 institutes found a place in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-17. So many institutes qualified in an attempt to boost the government's effort to make the country's higher education better and more world-class. The ranking covers as many as 980 institutes this year. Only IISc Bangalore and IIT Bombay made it to the top 400. Thirty-one Indian institutions feature in a list of 980 best universities in the world with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru edging closer to the top 200. Leading the Indian universities, IISc has claimed a spot in the 201-250 band, its highest ever position. The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2016, issued on Thursday, has ranked 980 institutions from 70 countries. The list was subject to an independent audit by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

It is encouraging that the Indian government has the same ambition to create world-class universities and that its leading institutions are already edging towards the world top 200," Phil Baty, editor of the THE World University Rankings, said.

While most Asian countries are suffering from an ageing population, the number of young people in South Asia is growing. India is set to have the largest student population by 2025, with the number of 18- to 22-year-olds predicted to reach 119 million.