 official logo | |
| Categories | Higher education |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Annually |
| Circulation | All over India |
| Publisher | Ministry of Education (Govt of India) |
| First issue | 2016; 9 years ago (2016) |
| Country | India |
| Based in | New Delhi |
| Language | English |
| Website | nirfindia.org |
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by theMinistry of Education,Government of India, to rankinstitutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the formerMinistry of Human Resource Development (now theMinistry of Education) and launched by the Minister on 29 September 2015.[1]
Depending on their areas of operation, institutions have been ranked under 11 different categories – overall, university, colleges, engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture, dental and research.[2] The Framework uses several parameters for ranking purposes like resources, research, and stakeholder perception. These parameters have been grouped into five clusters and these clusters were assigned certain weights. These weights depend on the type of institution. About 3500 institutions voluntarily participated in the first round of rankings.[3]
The 2017 rankings were released by MHRD on 3 April 2017.[4] While in its first rankings released in 2016, NIRF had four categories (Universities, Engineering, Management and Pharmacy), in 2017, two more categories namely, Overall and College, were added. Around 3,000 institutions participated in the rankings.[5]
On 3 April 2018, the 2018 NIRF rankings were released with an increased number of participating institutions over the previous year.[6]
The 2019 NIRF ranking was released on 8 April 2019 in 9 categories: Overall, Universities, Engineering, Colleges, Management, Pharmacy, Medical, Architecture, and Law.[7]
For the 2020 rankings, around 3,800 institutions participated in the process, a 20% increase over 2019.[8] The 2020 ranked lists were released by MHRD on 11 June 2020. For the first time, dental institutes were placed in a new category.[9]
MHRD organized a one-day workshop on 21 August 2014 on evolving methodologies for the ranking of institutions of higher education in India. The meeting resolved to establish a committee for building a national ranking framework. Later it was also decided to appoint representatives ofcentral universities for the proposed committee. Based on these decisions, a core committee consisting of 16 members was constituted on 29 October 2014 with secretary (HE, MHRD, as chairperson and additional secretary (TE), MHRD, as member-secretary. The other members were the vice-chancellors ofDelhi University,EFL University,Central University of Gujarat andJNU, the directors of theIIT Kharagpur,IIT Madras,IIM Ahmedabad,IIM Bangalore,NIT Tiruchirappalli,NIT Warangal,IIIT&M Gwalior,IISER Bhopal,SPA Delhi,NAAC, and chairperson ofNBA.[10]
The terms of reference of the committee were:
The core committee identified a set of measurable parameters to be used as metrics for ranking the institutions. These parameters were grouped into five major headings. The committee suggested the weightages to be assigned to various groups of parameters in the case of institutions of engineering education and left the task of carrying out similar exercises for institutions of other disciplines to other competent agencies. The initial draft of the report was prepared by Surendra Prasad, chairman, National Board of Accreditation and Member of the core committee.
The University Grants Commission constituted an expert committee on 9 October 2015 to develop a framework for the ranking of universities and colleges in India and the framework developed by this expert committee has been incorporated into NIRF.[11] The core committee also suggested a framework for ranking institutions offering management education also.[12] TheAll India Council for Technical Education developed parameters and metrics for ranking institutions offering pharmacy education[13] and also architecture education.[14]
The following are some of the recommendations of the core committee:[10]
The approved set of parameter groups and the weightages assigned to them in respect of institutions offering programmes in engineering, management, pharmacy and architecture are given in the following table.
| Parameters | Category A institutions | Category B institutions |
| Teaching, learning and resources (TLR) | 0.30 | 0.30 |
| Research, professional practice and collaborative performance (RPC) | 0.30 | 0.20 |
| Graduation outcome (GO) | 0.15 | 0.25 |
| Outreach and inclusivity (OI) | 0.15 | 0.15 |
| Perception (PR) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
The approved set of parameter groups and the weightages assigned to them in respect of overall rating and for colleges are given in the following table, for 2018.
| Parameters | Overall[15] | Colleges[16] |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching, learning and resources (TLR) | 0.30 | 0.40 |
| Research, productivity, impact and IPR (RPII) | 0.30 | 0.15 |
| Graduation outcome (GO) | 0.20 | 0.25 |
| Outreach and inclusivity (OI) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
| Perception (PR) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
Note: The India Rankings 2025, released in September 2025, continue NIRF's use of multiple categories including Overall, Universities, Engineering, Management, Medical, Research, Law, Agriculture, Architecture, Pharmacy, and Colleges.[17]
| Rank | Name | City | State/UT | NIRF Score | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | IIT Madras | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 88.72 | ₹996 crore (US$120 million) | Public |
| 2 | IIT Delhi | Delhi | Delhi | 85.74 | ₹855.81 crore (US$100 million) | Public |
| 3 | IIT Bombay | Mumbai | Maharashtra | 83.65 | ₹896 crore (US$110 million) | Public |
| 4 | IIT Kanpur | Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh | 81.82 | ₹865 crore (US$100 million) | Public |
| 5 | IIT Kharagpur | Kharagpur | West Bengal | 78.69 | ₹1,135.21 crore (US$130 million) | Public |
| 6 | IIT Roorkee | Roorkee | Uttarakhand | 75.44 | ₹781.35 crore (US$92 million) | Public |
 7 | IIT Hyderabad | Hyderabad | Telangana | 72.31 | ₹300 crore (US$35 million) | Public |
 8 | IIT Guwahati | Guwahati | Assam | 72.24 | ₹442.38 crore (US$52 million) | Public |
| 9 | NIT Trichy | Tiruchirapalli | Tamil Nadu | 68.14 | — | Public |
| 10 | IIT (BHU) | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh | 67.24 | — | Public |
| Rank | Name | City | State | NIRF Score | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian Institute of Science | Bengaluru | Karnataka | 85.05 | ₹918.27 crore (US$110 million) | Public |
| 2 | Jawaharlal Nehru University | New Delhi | Delhi | 71.00 | ₹200 crore (US$24 million) | Public |
| 3 | Manipal Academy of Higher Education | Manipal | Karnataka | 69.25 | — | Private |
| 4 | Jamia Millia Islamia | New Delhi | Delhi | 69.10 | ₹538.16 crore (US$64 million) | Public |
| 5 | Delhi University | New Delhi | Delhi | 67.38 | ₹433 crore (US$51 million) | Public |
| 6 | Banaras Hindu University | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh | 67.28 | ₹1,808.75 crore (US$210 million) | Public |
| 7 | BITS Pilani | Pilani | Rajasthan | 67.24 | — | Private |
| 8 | Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu | 67.05 | — | Private |
| 9 | Jadavpur University | Kolkata | West Bengal | 65.42 | ₹446.10 crore (US$53 million) | Public |
| 10 | Aligarh Muslim University | Aligarh | Uttar Pradesh | 65.35 | ₹1,036 crore (US$120 million) | Public |
| Rank | Name | City | State | NIRF Score | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IISc Bengaluru | Bengaluru | Karnataka | 85.01 | ₹918.27 crore (US$110 million) | Public |
| 2 | IIT Madras | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 82.99 | ₹996 crore (US$120 million) | Public |
| 3 | IIT Delhi | New Delhi | Delhi | 80.42 | ₹904.91 crore (US$110 million) | Public |
| 4 | IIT Bombay | Mumbai | Maharashtra | 77.80 | ₹896 crore (US$110 million) | Public |
| 5 | IIT Kharagpur | Kharagpur | West Bengal | 71.61 | ₹1,302.45 crore (US$150 million) | Public |
| 6 | IIT Kanpur | Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh | 69.80 | ₹853 crore (US$100 million) | Public |
| 7 | Homi Bhabha National Institute | Mumbai | Maharashtra | 69.39 | Classified | Public |
| 8 | IIT Roorkee | Roorkee | Uttarakhand | 67.27 | ₹781.35 crore (US$92 million) | Public |
| 9 | Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research | Ghaziabad | Uttar Pradesh | 67.15 | ₹2,192.51 crore (US$260 million) | Public |
| 10 | IIT Guwahati | Guwahati | Assam | 64.18 | ₹442.38 crore (US$52 million) | Public |
| Rank | Name | City | State | NIRF Score | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IIM Ahmedabad | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 83.29 | ₹254.9 crore (US$30 million) | Public |
| 2 | IIM Bangalore | Bengaluru | Karnataka | 81.56 | ₹217.5 crore (US$26 million) | Public |
| 3 | IIM Kozhikode | Kozhikode | Kerala | 79.85 | ₹198 crore (US$23 million) | Public |
| 4 | IIT Delhi | South Delhi | Delhi | 78.94 | ₹855.81 crore (US$100 million) | Public |
| 5 | IIM Lucknow | Lucknow | Uttar Pradesh | 77.97 | ₹168.7 crore (US$20 million) | Public |
| 6 | IIM Mumbai | Mumbai | Maharastra | 77.58 | ₹107.9 crore (US$13 million) | Public |
| 7 | IIM Calcutta | Kolkata | West Bengal | 77.34 | ₹226.97 crore (US$27 million) | Public |
| 8 | IIM Indore | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | 75.68 | ₹217.5 crore (US$26 million) | Public |
| 9 | Management Development Institute | Gurugram | Haryana | 71.96 | — | Private |
| 10 | XLRI – Xavier School of Management | Jamshedpur | Jharkhand | 70.63 | — | Private |
| Rank | Name | City | State | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Law School of India University | Bengaluru | Karnataka | ₹38 crore (US$4.5 million) | Public |
| 2 | National Law University, Delhi | New Delhi | Delhi | ₹50.27 crore (US$5.9 million) | Public |
| 3 | NALSAR University of Law | Hyderabad | Telangana | — | Public |
| 4 | The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences | Kolkata | West Bengal | ₹37.08 crore (US$4.4 million) | Public |
| 5 | Gujarat National Law University | Gandhinagar | Gujarat | — | Public |
| Rank | Name | City | State/UT | NIRF Score | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IIT Roorkee | Roorkee | Uttarakhand | 83.95 | ₹781.35 crore (US$92 million) | Public |
| 2 | NIT Calicut | Kozhikode | Kerala | 77.89 | — | |
| 3 | IIT Kharagpur | Kharagpur | West Bengal | 77.38 | ₹1,135.21 crore (US$130 million) | |
| 4 | IIEST, Shibpur | Howrah | West Bengal | 68.37 | ₹202.49 crore (US$24 million) | |
| 5 | Jamia Millia Islamia | New Delhi | Delhi | 67.15 | ₹538.16 crore (US$64 million) | |
| 6 | CEPT University | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 65.73 | — | Private |
| 7 | NIT Rourkela | Rourkela | Odisha | 65.72 | — | Public |
| 8 | School of Planning and Architecture | New Delhi | Delhi | 65.11 | — | |
| 9 | NIT Trichy | Tiruchirappalli | Tamil Nadu | 64.30 | — | |
| 10 | Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology | Nagpur | Maharashtra | 61.22 | — |
| Rank | Name | City | State/UT | NIRF Score | Budget | Institutional classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamia Hamdard | New Delhi | Delhi | 86.59 | — | Private, but partially government-funded |
| 2 | BITS Pilani | Pilani | Rajasthan | 82.28 | — | Private |
| 3 | Panjab University | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | 76.39 | ₹868.46 crore (US$100 million) | Public |
| 4 | JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty | Ooty | Tamil Nadu | 76.14 | — | Private |
| 5 | National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER, Hyderabad) | Hyderabad | Telangana | 75.64 | ₹200.07 crore (US$24 million) | Public |
| 6 | Institute of Chemical Technology | Mumbai | Maharastra | 74.77 | Public | |
| 7 | JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore | Mysore | Karnataka | 73.38 | — | Private |
| 8 | Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Udupi | Karnataka | 73.25 | — | Private |
| 9 | National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER, Mohali) | Mohali | Punjab | 70.96 | ₹200.07 crore (US$24 million) | Public |
| 10 | SRM Institute of Science and Technology | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 70.84 | — | Private |
The rankings have been criticized as manipulative by students and some academics.[27] In spite of the criticism, the government has done little to modify the methodologies or results of the rankings. The list was criticized for being incomplete and incoherent in 2017.[28] Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi raised objection on 2017 NIRF ranking, accusing it of being based on incomplete data.[29]
In 2021, ProfessorAnil Kumar Tripathi, director of theInstitute of Science, Banaras Hindu University criticized the NIRF University rankings, accusing it to compare institutions with same budget but varying number of students. He said that "IISc no doubt, is the top institution in the country.Banaras Hindu University (BHU), however, is a different kind of educational institution. Both institutions have almost the same budget but the same amount of money caters to a large number of students, teachers and infrastructure at BHU. In comparison to IISc the money available is about five to ten times lesser in our university because of the sheer size".[30]
In response to a PIL, on 27 march 2025Madurai Bench of theMadras High Court puts stay order on publishing NIRF ranking for 2025. PIL petition has claimed that NIRF continuously providing rank and unjustly promoting to multiple number of institutions on the basis of fake and fraud information from past many years without cross-checking, even those institutions failed to meet basic medical education standard. Whole ranking process is based on lack of transprency since NBA collect The data direct from the institution websites without any cross verification for authenticity, resulting in the publication of manipulated data in the ranking list.[31]
On May 10, Madras High Court dismissed the PIL petition and lifted the interim stay on release of NIRF ranking noting that, "Upon reviewing the materials on record, the petition appeared to be premature, as there was insufficient data available to enable a comparison or to assess the accuracy of the rankings."[32]
Another article highlighted that how skewed focus / weightage on few parameters is leading to irrational overall scores and therefore erroneous rankings. In particular, practical signals like "Placement percentage" and "Median compensation awarded to students" are assigned very low weightage, with respect to parameters like "Number of PhD students" and "University Exams".[33]
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