NIRF ranking 2024: IIT Madras tops for 6th straight year, IISc Bengaluru adjudged best university

Among management colleges, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad has retained its top spot, followed by IIM Bangalore and IIM Kozhikode. Two IITs -- Bombay and Delhi -- have also figured in the top ten list for management courses.

New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has once again been named as the best institute in India under the overall category as per the rankings of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) announced by union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday. Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and IIT Kanpur were the next in line.

IIM Ahmedabad was adjudged the best management institute followed by IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode, IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta. Colleges in Delhi maintained their dominance in ranking with six of the first 10 colleges securing positions being from Delhi. Hindu College was named the best college. In all, 10,000 institutes participated this year.

Pradhan, while releasing the rankings at Bharat Mandapam on Monday, said that NAAC and NIRF rankings should be more than a matter of advertisement. “Ranking has a material tilt, whether it is engineering, medical, pharmaceutical. It is towards something material, something tangible. Knowledge is intangible. How to map intangible education, there should be a ranking for this too,” he said.

The Rankings, in their ninth consecutive year, introduced three new categories this year – State Public Universities, Open Universities, and Skill Universities, increasing the existing number of categories to 16.

IIT Madras retained the top position for the sixth year in a row in the overall category, and in the engineering category for the ninth year. IISC Bengaluru topped the Universities category, retaining the position for the ninth consecutive year, and in the Research Institutions Category, it was adjudged the best for the fourth consecutive year.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi was declared the best Medical college for the seventh year in a row, in addition to bagging the seventh position in Overall category. In pharmacy, Delhi’s Jamia Hamdard topped the rankings for the fourth time.

Among colleges, Delhi University’s Hindu College secured the topmost position replacing Miranda House. Among law colleges, Bengaluru’s National Law School of India University, retained the first position for the seventh consecutive year.

The education ministry, in a release, said that the top 100 in the overall category consisted of 23 state public universities, 22 private deemed universities, 16 IITs, 9 NITs, 7 central universities, 7 private universities, 4 AIIMS, 4 IISERs and and 4 government deemed universities, among others.

“This ninth consecutive NIRF top ranking is more than just an accolade; it's a validation of our dedication to producing world-class talent and driving impactful research that addresses national and global challenges. We are humbled by this recognition and remain committed to serving the nation through education and innovation," Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IITM, said.

The ministry also said that this time, the evaluation criteria has seen some changes. The faculty-to-student ratio has been changed from 1:15 to 1:10 in medical institutes, and increased from 1:15 to 1:20 in the state government universities. Rankings are evaluated on five parameters — teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practice, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity and perception