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

Here is how India's best engineering colleges - the IITs have fared in the NIRF 2025 Research category. IIT BHU has debuted in the list this year. Read the complete article and get more details here.

Top IITs in NIRF Research Category 2025

The Ministry of Education has published the NIRF 2025 rankings, reiterating the supremacy of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the Research category. The top spots are still with the first-generation IITs, while some of the younger IITs have made strides in entering the top 25.

With an increasing trend of JEE Toppers opting for MIT over IITs due to one common reason - Research opportunities, IITs have been trying to pull up their socks to keep pace. Sustained improvement in NIRF research ranking has been observed among the older IITs, with newer ones joining the ranking.

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

IIT Madras retains the 2nd research position for the fifth year in a row (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 continue to be stable in the top 8, indicating consistent research output and international recognition. With this, the six IITs that have been consistently ranked in the Top 10 NIRF research category are IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee.

IIT BHU Enters the NIRF Research Category for the First Time

For the first time, IIT (BHU) Varanasi has broken into the Research category rankings, standing at 22nd position in 2025. This is a milestone for the institute as it makes its presence felt among India's leading research institutions.

Consistency maintained by IIT Guwahati & Hyderabad

IIT Guwahati, which was not ranked in 2022, has made a robust return and held the 10th rank for two years in a row (2024 & 2025). Likewise, IIT Hyderabad has been consistent, maintaining its position among the top 15 institutions with ranks between 12 and 15 for the last five years.

Mid-Tier Movements of IIT Indore and IIT Dhanbad

Institutes such as IIT Indore (24) and IIT Dhanbad (27) still stay in the 20 to 30 bracket, albeit with some variation. IIT Gandhinagar, however, has fallen from 31 in 2023 to 36 in 2025, indicating a fall in its research performance.

Performance of the Newer IITs in the NIRF Research Category

Performance among the newer IITs has been inconsistent. IIT Patna (39) returned to the rankings this year after not being present in 2023, and IIT Ropar has consistently fallen from 46 (2023) to 47 (2025). IIT Mandi, which joined the list in 2022, has again dropped out of the rankings in 2025. IIT Bhubaneswar, which was ranked 43rd in 2021, remains missing.

The NIRF 2025 rankings highlight the unambiguous research supremacy of the first-generation IITs, which year after year hold the top positions. At the same time, second-generation IITs like Hyderabad, Guwahati, and now BHU are emerging as strong contenders, signalling a shift in India’s research ecosystem.