The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has topped the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025 for the seventh consecutive year, and also emerged the top engineering college in India for the 10th year since the rankings were introduced in 2016. Like last year, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru is ranked second in the overall ranking, and IIT Bombay third.
The first non-engineering institution in the Top 10 of the overall ranking is the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi at eighth (seventh last year); the IITs at Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Roorkee (which swapped places with AIIMS) hold the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh places. Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi) have moved up to the ninth and tenth spots, respectively.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar announced the overall rankings and rankings across 17 categories for higher education institutions (HEIs). The categories include engineering, management, medicine, university, law, research, and agriculture. There is also a category just for colleges. A total of 14,163 higher education institutions participated in the 10th edition of NIRF Rankings.
NIRF evaluates institutions based on 19 parameters organized under five heads: Teaching, Learning, and Resources (TLR) carries a weightage of 30%, as does Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO) account for 20%, Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) 10%, and Perception (PR) 10%. These weightages may vary slightly depending on the ranking category.
{{/usCountry}}NIRF evaluates institutions based on 19 parameters organized under five heads: Teaching, Learning, and Resources (TLR) carries a weightage of 30%, as does Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO) account for 20%, Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) 10%, and Perception (PR) 10%. These weightages may vary slightly depending on the ranking category.
{{/usCountry}}IIT Madras also secured the top spot in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) category added in the 10th edition of the ranking. Under this new category, HEIs were examined in terms of green initiatives and environmentally friendly practices . SDGs are a set of 17 global objectives adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to address pressing challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental sustainability by 2030.
“Our success comes from working in a cohesive, coordinated, and focused manner on goals set under a five-year strategic plan. We strictly adhered to this roadmap, with faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry partners, government funding agencies, and the education ministry all contributing in a highly coordinated way. This collective effort has helped us,” IIT Madras director V Kamakoti said.
In the university category, both IISc and JNU, retained their first and second positions, respectively. The Manipal Academy of Higher Education rose to third place, up from fourth last year. The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani jumped from 19th position in 2024 to 7th in 2025 in the university category, driven largely by an improvement in its perception score — from 19.68 out of 100 in 2024 to 49.19 this year.
BITS Pilani vice-chancellor Prof. V Ramgopal Rao said, “The NIRF 2025 rankings reflect the efforts of our faculty, students, alumni, and staff. At BITS Pilani, we continue to focus on academic rigor and real-world application. Our movement in rankings across categories is an indication of our strategic approach.”
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad topped the list in management category retaining its first position for the sixth consecutive year. “This achievement reflects the unwavering commitment of our faculty, students, and alumni towards academic excellence, impactful research, and meaningful contributions to society. Our strong focus on research and innovation continues to shape new ideas and solutions that influence both academia and industry, while reinforcing IIMA’s role as a thought leader in management education,” said Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIMA
AIIMS New Delhi retained the top position in the medical category, while the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, led the law category. Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, secured the first rank in pharmacy for the second year in a row. Among colleges, Hindu College of Delhi University emerged as the top institution, with Delhi colleges continuing their dominance—claiming six of the top 10 spots nationwide.
In the NIRF 2025 rankings of the top 50 state public universities, southern states dominate with 22 institutions, led by Tamil Nadu with 10. Northern states account for 18, while Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat together contribute 10. States such as Bihar, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, most northeastern states (except Assam), and several Union Territories (UTs) including Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Puducherry, find no place, highlighting a regional imbalance in India’s higher education landscape.
The National Board of Accreditation (NBA), which oversees the NIRF rankings, has for the first time introduced a negative marking system linked to the number of retracted research publications. On tackling unethical practices in research, NBA chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe said, “This year we introduced negative marking for retracted papers and their citations — a double whammy. Institutions are warned to be truthful and honest in their publications. If unethical practices persist, the penalty weightage will rise, and repeat offenders may even face debarment from the rankings.”
Speaking during the launch, Pradhan called upon all academic institutions to become thriving grounds for innovation and entrepreneurship.
“There are nearly 1.5 lakh startups successfully running from campuses of Indian higher campuses. The entrepreneurship ecosystem finds a minor weightage under the perception parameter of NIRF. We need to revisit this,” he said.