New Delhi, Leading Indian Institutes of Technology campuses including the IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi will not be participating in any of the Times Higher Education (THE) - World University Rankings this year, a statement by IIT Delhi said.

According to the statement, these IITs may participate in the ranking next year if Times Higher Education is able to "convince them about the parameters and transparency" in their ranking process.

"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," the statement read.

Other IITs that have decided to boycott the ranking system are those at Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee.

A source in one of these IITs told IANS, that the decision was taken after several 'smaller and younger' IITs were ranked over the senior IITs like IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 includes almost 1,400 universities across 92 countries, standing as the largest and most diverse university rankings ever to date. Times Higher Education rankings' website terms itself the "only university ranking to be independently audited by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts".