Seven leading Indian Institutes of Technology will not be taking part in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Rankings this year. According to a joint statement, it said, “Leading IITs i.e. IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee have decided to not participate in any of the Times Higher Education (THE) – World University Rankings this year (2020).”

The release further added, “These IITs will reconsider their decision next year if Times Higher Education is able to convince them about the parameters and transparency in their ranking process.”

Last year, none of the IITs made it to the top 200 of the Times Higher Education rankings. The older IITs were beaten by new ones. IIT Ropar, which made its debut last year and also topped among the the list of 56 Indian institutes, which have made it to the rankings. Meanwhile, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur were ranked in the 401-500 category of the global rankings.

Last year, the older IITs also informed the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) about their disappointment and said they would approach the government to officially complain against the authorities.

Also read: World University Rankings 2020: IIT Ropar makes debut