Union Minister of State for Education Dr Subhas Sarkar on Wednesday released the Atal Ranking of Institute on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) for 2021. IIT-Madras topped the ‘CFTIs/Central University/Institute of National Importance (Technical)' category for the second consecutive year, while IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi grabbed the second and third position for the second year in a row.
Seven IITs occupied the top 10 places for the second straight year, while Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, National Institute of Technology Calicut and Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology occupied the sixth, ninth and tenth places respectively. Among the IITs, IIT-Roorkee saw the biggest jump in rankings, rising 4 places to reach the fifth position this year.
It is to be noted that IIT Madras, IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi had occupied the top 3 spots in the inaugural edition in 2019. However, they were categorised under 'Public Funded Institutions' that year.
In the 'University & Deemed to be University (Govt. & Govt. Aided) (Technical)' category, Punjab University occupied the first place, while Delhi Technological University was ranked second.
Over 1,400 Higher Education Institutions participated in this year's rankings, compared to just 674 last year.
In a bid to provide impetus to innovation in India's educational institutions, the Ministry of Education launched ARIIA in 2019. According to its official website, ARRIA is an initiative to "systematically rank all major higher educational institutions and universities...on indicators related to 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development' amongst students and faculties."
India was ranked 46th by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up 35 places from the 81st position in 2015.