NIRF rankings: IIT Madras best in country for seventh year in a row

The Ministry of Education has released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings 2025, marking its tenth edition. The rankings, announced by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, list the top-performing universities, colleges and institutes in India across 17 categories.

This year, IIT Madras has secured the top position in the overall category for the seventh consecutive year, while Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru retained its second position.

In the engineering category, IIT Madras has ranked first for the tenth year in a row.

In the Universities category, IISc has occupied the first position, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Among colleges, Delhi University’s Hindu College has ranked first, followed by Miranda House and Kirori Mal College. IISc has again featured in the top list in the research institutions category, while IIT Madras has ranked first in the innovations institutions category.

Jadavpur University has topped the state public universities category, followed by Anna University and Panjab University. The Ministry of Education has also introduced a new sustainable development category, where institutions are ranked based on their environmental practices. IIT Madras has topped this list, followed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Jamia Millia Islamia.

Other top performers include Jamia Hamdard, which has topped the pharmacy category, and IIM Ahmedabad, which has retained its top position in the management category for the second consecutive year. The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, has secured the top position in law studies, and AIIMS Delhi has topped both the medical and dental categories.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan highlighted the growing global recognition of Indian institutions, noting that the number of Indian institutions featured in the World QS ranking has jumped from 11 to 54. He emphasized the importance of data-driven rankings, anticipating a surge in student enrolment in higher education by 2030.