Context:

Recently, The Union Ministry for Education released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024.

About National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)

• NIRF was launched under the Ministry of Education (MoE) in September 2015.
• This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.
• This is the 9th consecutive edition of India Rankings of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India.

Five Broad Categories of Parameters and Weightage

• Five broad categories of parameters identified in the NIRF and their weightage are given in the following Figure: 

• In 2024, three new categories, namely Open Universities, State Public Universities, and Skill Universities are being introduced, thereby expanding the portfolio of Indian Rankings from 13 in 2023 to 16 in 2024.
• Integration of “Innovation” ranking into the India Rankings was also done by using the NIRF framework.
• The new parameters and changes introduced for India Rankings 2024 are as follows:
• Removal of self-citations under “Research and Professional Practices” for all categories and subject domains.
• Faculty Student Ratio (FSR) is being changed from 1:15 to 1:10 for Medical subject domain 
• FSR is being changed from 1:15 to 1:20 for State Public Universities.
• Introduction of parameters on sustainability 
• Introduction of parameters on new initiatives 
• Implementation of multiple entry and exit 
• Introduction of courses on the Indian Knowledge System 
• Imparting of courses in multiple Indian regional languages (MIR).

Key highlights of the rankings

• Top 100 in the Overall category consists of 23 state public universities, 22 private deemed universities, 16 IITs, 9 NITs, 7 each central universities 7 private universities, 4 each AIIMS, IISERs, and Government deemed universities, 3 Other Centrally Funded Technical Institute (CFTIs) and 1 college.
• Indian Institute of Technology Madras retains its 1st position in the Overall Category for the sixth consecutive year.                                                                                                                             
• Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru tops the Universities Category for the ninth consecutive year, from 2016 to 2024.
• IIM Ahmedabad tops in Management subjects retaining its first position for the fifth consecutive year, from 2020 to 2024. 
• All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi occupies the top slot in medicine for the seventh consecutive year, from 2018 to 2024.
• Hindu College secured the 1st position amongst colleges for the first time.
• Anna University, Chennai tops the State Public Universities Category.
• Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi tops the Open Universities Category.
• Symbiosis Skill and Professional University (SSPU), Pune tops the Skill Universities category.