NIRF Ranking 2025: New Category & Negative Marking Introduced – Key Highlights Changes Here
NIRF 2025: The Madras High Court temporarily halted the publication of the NIRF 2025 rankings, which are anticipated to be issued shortly, because of concerns regarding the lack of data verification. A new sustainability category and the implementation of a negative scoring system for retracted research publications are two notable developments this year.
Key Points
- New sustainability category added based on SDGs compliance.
- Negative marking introduced for retracted research publications.
- Madras High Court temporarily stayed the ranking's release.
NIRF 2025: The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for 2025 are expected to be released this month. This year, there will be major modifications to the rankings, which are supervised by the Ministry of Education. For the first time, a negative grading system for research article retraction will be employed, and a new category centered on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been added.
Overall, engineering, pharmacy, management, architecture and planning, agriculture and related fields, law, medicine, dentistry, innovation, skill universities, open universities, state public universities, colleges, research institutions, and universities were among the 16 categories in which HEIs were ranked last year.
NIRF Ranking 2025: Last Year’s Top Institutions
Based on the 2024 rankings, these are the top three institutions in several key categories mentioned below:
Top 3 Overall Institutions
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Indian Institute of Technology Madras
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Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
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Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Top 3 Medical Colleges
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All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi
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Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh
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Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore
Top 3 Engineering Colleges
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Indian Institute of Technology Madras
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Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
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Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Top 3 Universities
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Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru
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Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
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Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
What After The NIRF Ranking 2025?
The evaluation system has undergone considerable modifications for the NIRF 2025 rankings. A brand-new sustainability-focused category has been added, and institutions will be evaluated according to how well they follow the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The introduction of a negative marking system for research article retractions is another noteworthy modification.
Institutions will now pay a fine under the "research and professional practices" criterion. A new formula that takes into account the quantity or proportion of retracted publications will be used to determine the score. These modifications are intended to encourage research integrity and sustainable practices in India's higher education establishments.
Madras High Court's Stay on NIRF 2025 Rankings
In response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) brought by C. Chellamuthu, the Madras High Court temporarily halted the release of the NIRF 2025 rankings. The plea claimed that without any independent verification, universities were falsifying information about research funding, teacher salaries, and student strength in order to obtain higher rankings.
The NIRF only uses self-reported data from the institutions, according to the court's ruling, in contrast to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which evaluates data through expert committees. The petitioner contended that this lack of verification would have a detrimental effect on educational quality by enabling institutions with poor standards to deceptively advertise themselves.
Siddhi Sharma is an education journalist at Jagran Josh. A Journalism and Mass Communication graduate from IP University, she brings sharp newsroom instincts developed during her previous stint at Zee News. At Jagran Josh, Siddhi specializes in decoding the educational updates. Her coverage is highly exam-centric, ranging from curated news blogs for competitive exams to crucial school board and university news. Combining her strong media foundations with a research-driven approach, she creates reliable, high-utility content that helps students and aspirants stay ahead of the curve. Her writing is factual, engaging, and tailored to meet the fast-paced needs of modern learners and exam aspirants.
