The Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore has climbed around 50 positions in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2016-'17, earning a spot in the 201-250 band and making it India's top-ranked varsity. United Kingdom's University of Oxford ranked first in the list, bumping five-time leader – the California Institute of Technology – into second place, followed by Stanford University, University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Times Higher Education rates universities primarily based on four criteria – teaching, research, citations and international outlook. After ranking the top 200, institutions are not given any particular ranking but are sorted into groups of 50. IISc-Bangalore was ranked in the 251-300 group last year.

Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, told Mint that Indian universities took up 31 spots in the latest list. "Its leading university – the Indian Institute of Science – is also edging closer to the top 200, claiming a spot in the 201-250 band, its highest ever position," he said.

As many as 289 Asian universities from 24 countries made it to the overall list of 980. The University of Hong Kong and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology were ranked among the top 100, whereas the City University of Hong Kong, University of Science and Technology of China, Fudan University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University made it to the top 200. The National University of Singapore, Asia's highest-ranked institution, came in at the 24th spot, its highest-ever rank.

Here's how a few Indian institutes were ranked: