NIRF Ranking 2026: NIT vs IIT 5-Year Engineering Trend

The NIRF Ranking 2026 for the Engineering category is still awaited. The Ministry of Education has completed the data submission process for India Rankings 2026, but the new ranking has not been released yet. Until the NIRF Engineering Ranking 2026 is announced, students can check the performance of IITs and NITs from 2021 to 2025.

The five-year trend shows that IITs have continued to dominate the top positions. At the same time, leading NITs have remained competitive, with NIT Tiruchirappalli consistently emerging as the highest-ranked NIT in the Engineering category.

NIRF Engineering Ranking 2021 to 2025: IITs vs NITs

The previous five years show a clear gap between the leading IITs and NITs. IIT Madras remained at rank 1 in every year from 2021 to 2025. IIT Bombay also stayed at rank 3 throughout this period. NIT Trichy was the strongest NIT during the same period. It ranked 9th in 2021, moved to 8th in 2022 and returned to 9th from 2023 to 2025.

The figures show that the top five positions have largely remained with IITs. NIT Trichy has been the only NIT to stay inside the top 10 throughout the five-year period.

NIT Trichy, Rourkela and Surathkal Show Different Trends

NIT Trichy remained stable at the top among NITs and secured rank 9 in the NIRF 2025 Engineering ranking with a score of 68.14. It was the only NIT in the 2025 top 10. NIT Rourkela showed the biggest improvement among the three leading NITs. It moved from rank 20 in 2021 to rank 13 in 2025. In contrast, NIT Surathkal slipped from rank 10 in 2021 and 2022 to rank 17 in both 2024 and 2025.

The NIRF Ranking 2026 will show whether these trends continue or whether any IIT or NIT makes a major move in the new list.

NIRF Ranking 2026 FAQs