evidence: Recently, a set of data doing the rounds on social media attracted the attention of this writer. According to the data, globally, India has uniquely housed the highest number of universities in it – 5,288 to be precise – followed by the USA with 3,216, and our neighbour China stands at the fourth position with 2,565 universities. However, as per the QS world university ranking system for 2023, USA holds the prestigious position of being the country to host maximum universities among the top 100 universities. China stands at sixth, but none of the Indian universities could find a place among the top 100 universities. [...] Despite these challenges, there have been some recent developments that suggest that Indian universities are taking steps towards improving their quality. The government has launched several initiatives aimed at promoting research and innovation in higher education. For example, the government’s national institutional ranking framework ranks universities based on several parameters, such as teaching, research, and infrastructure, which has encouraged universities to improve their standards.