In the previous article (October 18, 2025), I had briefly discussed the basic framework of NIRF 2025 and my assessment of this framework. Here I sum up the processes of data collection and analysis and some of its findings.

A total of 8863 institutions registered to participate in the rankings, and finally, 7692 institutions submitted their data in different categories and subject domains. Since one institution could submit data in more than one category, a total of 14,163 applications were received for ranking, and out of these, the overall (4045), colleges (4030), engineering (1584) and management (1026) were the largest categories. Region-wise participation of institutions was as follows: South (5268), West (4702), North (2304) and East (1889).

The Data Capturing System, Feedback System, and Perception Capturing System were developed for online capturing of data from applicant institutions and feedback from public and institutional perception (from peers and employers). The data on publications, citations and highly cited publications were retrieved directly from third-party sources.

Committees of academic experts examined the data submitted by institutions under each of the five broad categories and other parameters. When it was felt necessary, institutions were contacted to confirm the data, the correct data and the support data with documentary evidence. For this purpose, each institution was asked to nominate one senior functionary as a nodal officer for dealing with NIRF concerns.

All applicant........

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