The NIRF Ranking 2025 will be announced today, September 4, 2025, by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at an event in New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam.

This is the 10th edition of India's most reputed institutional ranking framework, which evaluates higher education institutes across parameters like teaching, research, inclusivity, and perception. This year's ranking introduces a new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) category and a policy to deduct marks for research paper retractions. The rankings will be available at nirfindia.org after the official release.
The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was launched in 2015 to bring transparency, accountability, and healthy competition among Indian higher education institutions. Over the last decade, it has become the gold standard for evaluating universities, colleges, and research institutes in India. Rankings are based on five parameters:
Once announced, the rankings will be accessible at the official NIRF portal (nirfindia.org) for students, parents, and institutions to check category-wise lists.
This year's rankings cover 17 categories:
The SDG category will assess institutions based on environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and contribution toward UN SDG targets.
Two key updates make this year's rankings unique:
AIIMS Delhi: No. 1 in Medical category.
With new sustainability measures and revised research metrics, rankings might see changes in the top positions. Some universities that actively contribute to climate action and inclusivity could climb up the list.
Conclusion
The NIRF Rankings 2025, to be announced today, represent a decade of progress in India's higher education evaluation system. With expanded categories, a sustainability focus, and stricter rules on research quality, the rankings are expected to provide a clearer, fairer, and more future-oriented picture of India's academic landscape. Students planning admissions for 2025-26 should keep an eye on the official portal nirfindia.org for the full list.