The NIRF ranking for the top 10 institutions was published on September 4th, 2025, on the official website called nirfindia.org. These rankings assess India’s higher education institutions across over 16 categories, includingEngineering,Management,Medical,Law,Research, and, notably, the newly introducedSustainable Development Goals (SDG) category, officially marking the 10th edition of India's most important educational assessment platform. The ranks will continue to highlight the excellence of Indian educational institutions in various parameters and categories, announced by the Education Minister Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan.
For the 7th consecutive year, IIT Madras has maintained Rank 1 in the overall category, reinforcing its position as the leading educational institution in India. This monumental achievement reiterates the commitment of the institution to furthering academic and research in a way that ensures excellence in starting with education and ultimately providing a quality educational experience that promotes the overall best experience for students.
Evaluation criteria include Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR); Research & Professional Practice (RPC); Graduation Outcomes (GO); Outreach & Inclusivity (OI); and Perception.
Overall NIRF Rankings 2025
For the seventh year in a row, IIT Madras won the overall category, demonstrating structural dominance across all evaluated dimensions. The institutions that are coming in the top 10 positions are:
Rank | Institution |
1 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) |
2 | Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru (Karnataka) |
3 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay (Mumbai, Maharashtra) |
4 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi (New Delhi) |
5 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) |
6 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur (West Bengal) |
7 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee (Uttarakhand) |
8 | All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi (New Delhi) |
9 | Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) (New Delhi) |
10 | Banaras Hindu University (BHU) (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) |
IISc Bengaluru retained thesecond rank overall and continued to dominate in its category as thetop university.
Category-specific highlights include:
- Engineering: IIT Madras maintained the top position. Other IITs, Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, dominated the top 10. Southern institutions like IIT Hyderabad and NIT Tiruchirappalli strengthened their positions.
- Medical:AIIMS Delhi retained its position asnumber one for thetenth consecutive year, with a score of91.80, among the top 10 medical institutions.
- Management (MBA/B-school):IIM Ahmedabad emerged astop-ranked for thesixth successive year, followed byIIM Bangalore,IIM Kozhikode,IIT Delhi (DMS), andIIM Lucknow. MDI Gurgaon and XLRI Jamshedpur were also ranked in the top ten
- Law: National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru retained first place.NLU Delhi andNALSAR Hyderabad occupied second and third positions, respectively.
- Innovation & SDGs (new categories): IIT Madras led both categories, ranking first inInnovation Institutions andSustainable Development Goals. It also ranked second inResearch, just behind IISc Bengaluru.
The rankings release event featured addresses byEducation Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Officials highlighted the framework's emphasis on transparency and accountability. Institutions that provided false data faced negative marking or exclusion.
In conclusion, theNIRF 2025 resultsrevealed the image and quality of top institutions, and that they are still maintained, particularly IIT Madras, IISc Bengaluru, AIIMS Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad, and NLSIU Bengaluru, across multiple domains. By asking institutions to align with sustainability and societal relevance,the SDG category marks a purposeful shift in questioning institutional impact beyond academics.
