There has been a sharp increase in the number of Indian institutes in the Asian Universities Ranking 2014 published by QS. The list, released for the first time in India on Monday, featured 17 Indian universities — a 50% increase from 11 last year.

IIT Delhi holds on to 38th place, pulling clear of IIT Bombay at 41st. Five other IITs feature in the top 100, led by Kanpur and Madras just outside the top 50.

With seven IITs among the leading eight institutes, the top levels of Indian higher education remain much stronger in science and technology than in social sciences and arts.

“The IITs have a great reputation among graduate employers, and now produce a relatively high volume of research, but it is not yet having a significant impact in terms of citations,” QS head of research Ben Sowter said.

Among traditional universities, University of Delhi takes the lead at 81, having slipped one place since last year.

Moreover, Banaras Hindu University, Panjab, Manipal and Amity universities, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, and the Indian Institute of Information Technology made it to the list for the first time.

The ranking that has 300 universities in the list, reflects a swing in the balance of power in the continent as a whole, as Singapore and Korea overtake the traditionally dominant Japan and Hong Kong. National University of Singapore (NUS) tops the rankings for the first time, while Korea’s KAIST rises from sixth to second place.

Another global ranking had recently included IIT Guwahati in the top 100 of the ‘young’ global institutes.

Record 17 Indian universities find place in new Asian ranking