Two institutes from Telangana made a huge mark in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranks this year — the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H), which stood top among the second generation IITs and the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, (NIT-W) that jumped 15 positions above, perhaps the biggest for any institute in the country.

Ranked 17th in the overall category this year, the IIT-H picked up five ranks above its last year’s position, taking a huge leap based on its improved research and teaching and learning resources. In the engineering category, it, however, retained its earlier eighth rank.

The NIT Warangal improved 15 positions to bag 46th rank from 61st rank last year in the overall category while in the engineering colleges category, it improved its position to 19th compared to 26th rank last year. A few more points could have placed it in a much better position among the NITs as the margin of score was very less. The IIT-H performed extremely well in all the parameters in the engineering stream like Teaching, Learning and Resources (82.51), Research and Professional Practices (52.47), Graduation Outcome (71.54), Outreach and Inclusivity (55.98) and Perception (60.42).

Similar was the performance in the overall category like Teaching, Learning and Resources (69.97), Research and Professional Practices (48.99), Graduation Outcome (66.96), Outreach and Inclusivity (58.36) and Perception (46.7).

NIT Warangal director N.V. Ramana Rao says rank-wise, NIT-W in both overall and engineering colleges categories saw the biggest improvement for any institute in the country. “Our hard work has paid off and it is a reflection of the quality of our faculty and students,” says Prof. Ramana Rao, who introduced several innovative programmes in the last five years.

Director ofIndian Institute of Technology--H B.S. Murthy attributes the improved rank to each member of the institute and says they would continue to work to climb the ladder to reach the top.

The IIT-H was set up in 2008 along with five others — at Gandhinagar, Jodhpur, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Ropar. Though the decision to establish IIT Indore and IIT Mandi was taken at the same time, they started operations the next year.

Six new IITs were set up in 2015 and 2016, including IITs in Tirupati, Palakkad, Dharwad, Bhilai, Goa and Jammu. The ISM Dhanbad was also upgraded to an Indian Institute of Technology during the same time.

UoH slips

The University of Hyderabad (UoH), which has made immense progress over the years, however, slipped four positions to be ranked 15th in the overall category. Among the universities, it stood at sixth place.

However, the pride of Telangana — Osmania University — fared poorly compared to last year. It secured 53rd rank, dropping from its 43rd last year, in the overall category.