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 - the IITs have performed in the NIRF 2025 Research category. This year, IIT BHU has made its debut in the list. Read on for more details.
Top IITs in NIRF Research Category 2025: How India’s Leading Institutes Have Performed Over the Year
The Ministry of Education has released the NIRF 2025 rankings, reaffirming the dominance of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the Research category. The top positions remain firmly with the first-generation IITs, while a few younger IITs have shown progress in breaking into the top 25.
With a rising trend of JEE Toppers choosing MIT over IITs because of one common reaseon - Reseach opportinities, IITs have been pulling up their socks to match the standards. Consistent improvement in NIRF research ranking have been seen among the older IITs with newer ones joing the ranking.
The Unshaken 6 IITs in NIRF Research Category in Past 5 Years
IIT Madras continues to hold the 2nd position in research for the fifth consecutive year (2021 to 2025), followed closely by IIT Delhi (Rank 3) and IIT Bombay (Rank 4). IIT Kharagpur (5), IIT Kanpur (6), and IIT Roorkee (7) also remain steady in the top 8, reflecting consistent research output and global recognition. With this, the six IITs that have been onsistently ranked in the Top 10 NIRF reseachg category are IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee.
Newst Entry: Indian Institute of Technology BHU Enters the NIRF Research Category for the First Time
For the first time, IIT (BHU) Varanasi has entered the Research category rankings, securing the 22nd position in 2025. This marks a significant milestone for the institute as it makes its presence felt among India’s top research institutions.
Consitency maintained by IIT Guwahati & Hyderabad
IIT Guwahati, which was unranked in 2022, has made a strong comeback and retained the 10th position for two consecutive years (2024 & 2025). Similarly, IIT Hyderabad has shown stability, holding onto its place among the top 15 institutes with ranks ranging between 12 and 15 over the 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 the 20 to 30 range, though with some fluctuations. IIT Gandhinagar, however, has slipped from 31 in 2023 to 36 in 2025, showing a decline in its research performance.
Performance of the Newer IITs in NIRF Research Category
Among the newer IITs, performance has been uneven. IIT Patna (39) re-entered the rankings this year after being absent in 2023, while IIT Ropar has steadily declined from 46 (2023) to 47 (2025). IIT Mandi, which entered the list in 2022, has once again fallen off the rankings in 2025. IIT Bhubaneswar, once ranked 43 in 2021, continues to remain absent.
Top IITs in NIRF Research Category 2025
The NIRF 2025 rankings underline the clear research dominance of the first-generation IITs, which continue to occupy the top slots year after year. At the same time, second-generation IITs like Hyderabad, Guwahati, and now BHU are emerging as strong contenders, signaling a shift in India’s research ecosystem.
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