Page 11 - NIRF 2023

1. Background
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A one-day workshop was organized by the Ministry of Education on 21 August 2014 to evolve methodologies for the
ranking of institutions of higher education in India. Subsequently, a 16-member Core Committee was appointed by the
th
Ministry on 29 October 2014 to develop and evolve the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under the
chairmanship of Secretary (HE). Besides discussions amongst members of the Committee during a series of meetings,
intense discussions and deliberations were held with peers and stakeholders through several online discussions. The
Committee proposed a robust National Framework for measuring performance and ranking of institutes of higher
education and recommended institutional mechanisms, processes and timelines for implementation of the Ranking
Framework. Considering the complex landscape of higher education scenario in the country, NIRF envisaged separate
rankings for different categories of institutes in their own respective peer groups. As such, domain-specific
frameworks were draftedin the years of their respective induction in the ranking exercise under India Rankings. In the
year 2023, two more verticals, namely Agriculture & Allied Sectors and Innovation are being introduced for the first
time and scope of subject domain “Architecture” is being expanded and rechristened as “Architecture & Planning” to
include institutions imparting courses in urban and town planning. With inclusion of Agriculture & Allied Sectors and
Innovation and with expansion of scope of Architecture to Architecture and Planning, a total number of 13 categories
and subject domains are being ranked in India Rankings 2023.

A common Overall ranking was introduced for institutions that have a minimum of 1,000 students from the year 2017
onwards in addition to other category-specific and domain-specific rankings to provide a common view of comparable
institutions across categories and disciplines. This practice is being continued for the past seven years as well as for the
current year. In the year 2016, rankings were announced for Universities and for three subject domains of Engineering,
Management and Pharmacy. In 2017, in addition to these four rankings, the Overall ranking, and ranking of General
Degree Colleges were introduced for the first time. In the years 2018, while continuing with the above mentioned six
rankings, three domain-specific rankings in the fields of Law, Medicine and Architecture were introduced. In the year
2019 ranking was carried out for three category-specific rankings, namely Overall, Universities and Colleges, and six
domain-specific rankings inducted between 2017 and 2018. In addition to ranking of HEIs in nine categories and
domains, ranking of “Dental” institutions and “Research Institutions” were introduced in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
In the year 2022, the NIRF continued rankings of HEIs in four categories, namely Overall, Universities, Colleges and
Research Institutions and seven subject domains, namely Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Medicine,
Architecture, Law, and Dental. In the year 2023, two more verticals, namely Agriculture & Allied Sectors and
Innovation are being introduced for the first time and scope of subject domain “Architecture” is being expanded and
rechristened as “Architecture & Planning” to include institutions imparting courses in urban and town planning. With
inclusion of Agriculture & Allied Sectors, Innovation and expansion of scope of Architecture to Architecture and
Planning, a total number of 13 categories and subject domains are being ranked in India Rankings 2023.

The final ranking framework lists 16-18 parameters organised in five broad generic categories of parameters. Several
of these parameters are common to those deployed globally and serve as pointers to environment for teaching,
learning and research. However, there are a few India-centric parameters, reflecting aspirations of the rising numbers
of our young people enrolled in higher education institutions. Country-specific parameters relevant to the Indian
situation include regional diversity, outreach, gender equity and inclusion of disadvantaged sections of the society.

The spirit of the Ranking Framework and parameters originally identified by the Core Committee and used for India
Rankings for the past seven years are being retained for the year 2023. Minor changes were made based on the
experience gained in the process of ranking of institutions in previous seven years.

2. NIRF Parameters for Ranking of Institutions of Higher Education

The NIRF provides for ranking of institutions in five broad generic groups of parameters, namely: i) Teaching, Learning
and Resources; ii) Research and Professional Practice; iii) Graduation Outcome; iv) Outreach and Inclusivity; and v)
Perception. Fig. 1 provides an outline of the various sub-parameters for each of the five generic groups.

India Rankings 2023 1