Chennai: IIT Madras has once again emerged as the top institution in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, released by the Union Ministry of Education on Thursday. This marks the seventh consecutive year the premier engineering institute has secured the overall top spot. IIT Madras also retained its first position in the engineering category, extending its dominance for the tenth year since the inception of the rankings.

Karnataka institutions feature prominently

Karnataka secured a strong presence in the rankings, with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru adjudged the best university in the country. IISc also maintained its lead in the research category for the tenth year in a row. Manipal University secured the third spot among universities, while the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore was ranked the second-best management institute in the country. The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) once again topped the law category.

IITs continue to dominate

The overall rankings highlighted the dominance of the IITs, with IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee among the top 10, alongside institutions such as AIIMS Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU). IIT Guwahati and IIT Hyderabad also found a place in the top 10 for engineering, along with NIT Tiruchirapalli and IIT BHU.

Medical and pharmacy institutions

Among medical colleges, AIIMS Delhi retained its number one position, followed by PGIMER Chandigarh, Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, JIPGMER Puducherry and SGPIMS Lucknow. Jamia Hamdard topped the pharmacy category this year.

Rise of SOA University

Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) University in Bhubaneswar made significant progress, climbing from the 21st spot in the overall rankings last year to 15th this year.

Colleges category

Miranda House of Delhi University continued its dominance in the colleges category. Hansraj College and Kirori Mal College followed, while St Stephen’s College slipped from third to fifth place this year.

Universities rankings

Jawaharlal Nehru University retained its second position among universities, while Delhi University improved to fifth from sixth last year. Jamia Millia Islamia was ranked fourth, BHU sixth, and BITS Pilani seventh, marking a remarkable improvement from its 19th rank last year.

Management rankings

The IIMs continued their stronghold on the management category. IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Kozhikode featured at the top, followed by IIM Delhi, IIM Lucknow, IIM Mumbai, IIM Calcutta and IIM Indore. MDI Gurgaon and XLRI Jamshedpur secured ninth and tenth positions respectively.

NIRF 2025 evaluation process

The NIRF 2025 evaluated 7,692 institutions across 13 categories, a sharp increase from the 2,426 institutions assessed in 2016 when the rankings began. The parameters included teaching and learning, research and professional practices, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity, and perception.

Union minister’s remarks

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while releasing the rankings, announced that a new ranking framework would be introduced soon. “Very soon, a new mechanism for institutional ranking will be placed. We will go by the theory of one nation, one data,” he said. He added that the increasing participation in NIRF reflects the stable growth of India’s higher education sector. “The ranking framework is an important milestone towards our goal of a developed India in 2047. We must expand student intake and improve the quality of higher education,” he added.

Conclusion

The 2025 NIRF rankings reaffirm the dominance of IITs and IISc while highlighting the emergence of private institutions such as Manipal and SOA University. With participation growing each year, the rankings serve as a benchmark of quality and competitiveness in India’s higher education sector.