In the process, PU has surged ahead of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other leading universities in the country.

"The forte of the Top-200 universities is in the graduate school programmes and not under-graduate teaching like we do. We don't have a very rigorous graduate programme and that is one area where we want to concentrate. We have been talking and want to raise resources to run a good graduate programme. We can then hit the Top-200 rankings," Grover said.

The VC feels the latest THE ranking will help PU's students and faculty. "They will get better opportunities in India and abroad," he pointed out.

PU's famous alumni include Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former PM Inder Kumar Gujral, former President Shankar Dayal Sharma and Nobel Laureate Hargobind Khurana, besides astronaut Kalpana Chawla, several union ministers, CEOs, corporate heads, top bureaucrats, army and police officers.

In the latest rankings, IIT-Kharagpur, which was in the same (226-250th) position last year, slipped to the 351-400 group. IIT-Delhi, IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Kanpur are also in the 351-400 group.

Read More:

IITs Loses Its Sheen; Top Tech Conglomerates Skip Placements This Year

Personality Types Who Are a Big 'No' For MBA