Universities ranked according to ‘innovation achievements’

Union Minister of State (MoS) for Education, Dr Subhas Sarkar on Wednesday virtually released the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021. ARIIA is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to systematically rank all major higher educational institutions (HEIs) in India on indicators related to innovation, start-up and entrepreneurship development amongst students and faculty. This year 1,438 institutions (including all IITs, NITs, IISc, etc.) participated as compared to 674 Higher Education Institutes during the 2nd edition of ARIIA (ARIIA-2021) last year.

The participating institutions were classified into two major categories—technical and non-technical. The technical category has five sub-categories—CFTIs, Central University, & Institute of National Importance; State University & Deemed University (Govt. & Govt. Aided); Govt. College/Institution (Govt. & Govt. Aided); University & Deemed University (Self-Finance/Private); and Private College/Institute (Self-Finance/Private). The non-technical category is divided into two sub-categories—CFIs/Central University/Institute of National Importance (Non-Technical), and General (Non-Technical).

In the CFTIs/Central University/Institute of National Importance (Technical) category, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ranked first, second, and third, respectively.

In the State University & Deemed University (Govt. & Govt. Aided) Technical category, Panjab University, Delhi Technological University, and Netaji Subhas University of Technology were the three toppers.

In Govt College/Institution (Govt & Govt Aided) Technical category, College of Engineering Pune bagged the first position.

In University & Deemed University (Self-Finance/Private) Technical category, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Khordha, Chitkara University, and Lovely Professional University ranked first, second, and third, respectively.

In Private College/Institute (Self-Finance/Private) Technical category, G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering secured the first spot.

In Institute of National Importance, Central University & CFIs Non-Technical category, Indira Gandhi National Open University clinched the top place.

In General Non-Technical category, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India came first.

While speaking at the release function, Dr Sarkar said that ARIIA ranking will inspire Indian institutions to reorient their mindset and build ecosystems to encourage high-quality research, innovation, and entrepreneurship on campus. Emphasising promoting innovation to achieve a US$5 trillion economy by 2025, Sarkar said that more than quantity, the institute should focus on the quality of innovations and research. “This will help us achieve the Atmanirbhar Bharat in the true sense,” he said.

“We need to give a huge push to Innovation and Entrepreneurship within our educational institutions and ARIIA is one major initiative in that direction,” he added.