Top IITs in NIRF Research Category 2025: How India’s Leading Institutes Have Performed Over the Years

Here is how India’s top engineering institutes, IITs have performed in NIRF 2025 Research category. This year, IIT BHU has made its debut in list. Read on for more details. 

Top IITs in NIRF Research Category 2025: How India’s Leading Institutes Have Performed Over Year

With a rising trend of JEE Toppers choosing MIT over IITs because of one common reason - Reseach opportunities, IITs have been pulling up their socks to match standards. Consistent improvement in NIRF research ranking has been seen among older IITs with newer ones joining ranking.

The Unshaken 6 IITs in NIRF Research Category in Past 5 Years

 IIT Madras continues to hold 2nd position in research for fifth consecutive year (2021 to 2025), followed by IIT Delhi (Rank 3) and IIT Bombay (Rank 4). IIT Kharagpur (5), IIT Kanpur (6), and IIT Roorkee (7) also remain steady in top 8. With this, six IITs that have been consistently ranked in Top 10 NIRF research category are IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee.

Newst Entry: Indian Institute of Technology BHU Enters NIRF Research Category for First Time

For first time, IIT (BHU) Varanasi has entered Research category rankings, securing 22nd position in 2025.

Consistency maintained by IIT Guwahati & Hyderabad

IIT Guwahati, which was not ranked in 2022, has made a strong comeback and continued 10th position for two consecutive years (2024 & 2025). Similarly, IIT Hyderabad has shown stability, holding onto its place among top 15 institutes with ranks ranging between 12 and 15 over past five years.

Mid-Tier Movements of IIT Indore and IIT Dhanbad

Institutes like IIT Indore (24) and IIT Dhanbad (27) continue to remain in 20 to 30 range, though with some fluctuations. In 2023, IIT Gandhinagar secured 31 rank, which dropped to rank 36 in 2025.

Performance of Newer IITs in NIRF Research Category

Among newer IITs, performance has been uneven. IIT Patna (39) re-entered rankings this year after being absent in 2023, while IIT Ropar has declined from 46 (2023) to 47 (2025). IIT Mandi, which entered list in 2022, has once again fallen off rankings in 2025. IIT Bhubaneswar, once ranked 43 in 2021, continues to remain absent.

Top IITs in NIRF Research Category 2025

Read More:

• India's Top IITs in NIRF Ranking 2025: IIT Madras Secures No. 1 Position Yet Again
• Top Government Engineering Colleges In India As Per NIRF Ranking 2025
• Old vs New IITs: Toppers Tilt Toward Old IITs, Data Confirms