The latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) by the Union Ministry of Education has revealed significant shifts in the standings of universities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The University of Kashmir (KU) fell 12 places to 45th among Indian universities, while the University of Jammu (JU) made a notable entry into the top 50, ranking 50th.
In the overall rankings, KU is positioned 69th and JU is 87th nationally. This marks the first time JU has broken into the top 50 universities. No other institutions from Jammu and Kashmir are in the top 100.
In addition to KU and JU, six other institutions from the region have been recognized in their categories: the two agricultural universities, IIT Jammu, IIM Jammu, NIT Srinagar, and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.
Despite KU’s higher ranking compared to JU in the overall and university categories, it has dropped from 33rd to 45th among universities and from 56th to 69th in overall rankings since 2023. JU, on the other hand, has climbed from 63rd to 50th among universities and has debuted in the top 100 overall.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chancellor of both universities, congratulated JU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Umesh Rai and his team for their achievements. The LG’s office also extended congratulations to KU, NIT Srinagar, SMVDU, SKUAST-Kashmir, and SKUAST-Jammu for their NIRF rankings.
SKUAST-Kashmir secured 10th place among agricultural institutes, while SKUAST-Jammu ranked 20th. In engineering, IIT Jammu and NIT Srinagar ranked 62nd and 79th, respectively.
IIM Jammu placed 42nd among management institutes, and the Department of Architecture at SMVDU achieved 31st among architecture and planning institutes.