The Ministry of Education has released the 10th edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, evaluating the performance of 7,692 institutions across 17 categories this year, including a newly introduced one focused on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

IIT Madras Maintains Overall Lead; IISc Best University

For the seventh consecutive year, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has retained its top spot in the overall ranking. It was followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and IIT Bombay, securing second and third places respectively.

In the universities category, IISc Bengaluru held onto its first-place rank for the tenth straight year, with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Manipal Academy of Higher Education coming in second and third.

Expanded Categories and Refined Parameters in 2025

This year saw the NIRF rankings broaden their scope to include 17 ranking categories, up from 16 in the previous edition. The addition of the SDG category signals a growing focus on institutions’ commitment to environmental and social sustainability. The other broad areas include overall, universities, colleges, engineering, management, medical, law, architecture, dental, pharmacy, research, open universities, skill universities, and state public universities.

All participating institutions were assessed using five core criteria: Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR); Research and Professional Practice (RPC); Graduation Outcomes (GO); Outreach and Inclusivity (OI); and Perception.

Delhi Colleges Dominate, Hansraj and Kirori Mal See Big Jump

In the colleges category, Hindu College and Miranda House retained their leading positions at first and second place respectively. Hansraj College rose sharply to third, a significant climb from its 12th rank last year, while Kirori Mal College jumped to fourth from ninth. St. Stephen’s College, which had previously placed third, fell to the fifth position.

Hindu College had overtaken Miranda House in last year’s rankings the latter had held the top spot for seven years straight before that.

Specialised Fields See Familiar Leaders

The top medical and dental institute remained AIIMS Delhi, while the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, led the law category once again. IISc Bengaluru was recognised as the best institution for research.

In the field of engineering, IIT Madras stood at the top, with IIT Delhi following. IIT Roorkee was named the best in architecture and planning, with NIT Kozhikode and IIT Kharagpur also ranking high in the category.

Jamia Hamdard (Delhi) led in pharmacy, followed by BITS Pilani and Panjab University (Chandigarh). For agriculture, the top spot was secured by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi.

IIM Ahmedabad continued its reign as the top management institute, with IIM Bangalore and IIM Kozhikode at second and third respectively.

Recognitions for State and Open Universities

Jadavpur University in Kolkata topped the list of state public universities, followed by Anna University, Chennai. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in Delhi was ranked the best in the open universities category, while Symbiosis Skills and Professional University was recognised as the leading skills-based university.

Ministers Highlight Reforms and Future Goals

Speaking at the release event, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated, “In the Tenth edition of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) awards for 17 categories were announced and more institutions have joined in this process. This shows stable growth of our higher education sector.”

He added, “Ranking framework is an important milestone towards our goal of developed India in 2047. We have to increase the number of students and quality of education in the higher education sector.”

Pradhan also announced an upcoming shift in the evaluation system, “Very soon, a new mechanism for institutional ranking will be placed. We will go by theory of one nation, one data,”

He further criticised the current use of “perception” as a criterion and proposed including entrepreneurship metrics in future editions.

NIRF Ranking Tweaks in 2025 Edition

Highlighting updates in methodology, Vineet Joshi, Secretary of Higher Education, said, “Noteworthy changes in India Rankings 2025 included the introduction of negative marking for retracted articles. Moreover, the removal of self-citations under research and professional practices applied across all categories and subject domains last year was continued this year as well.”

Flagship Government Initiatives Boost Rankings

Speaking on policy efforts, Sukanta Majumdar, Union Minister of State for Education, noted, “The schemes such as One Nation-One Subscription, the Global Initiative for Academic Networks, and the Smart India Hackathon have fostered quality teaching and innovation.”

The NIRF, launched in 2015 by the then Ministry of Human Resource Development, has grown into a widely respected framework used by students, educators, and policymakers to assess institutional quality and make informed academic choices.