IIT Kharagpur and IIM Rohtak Swap Places in NIRF MBA Ranking 2025; Genuine Growth or Data Tricks?

Every year, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) reshapes how we look at Indian higher education. For students, faculty, and recruiters, these rankings are not just numbers - they can influence admissions, funding, and even the reputation of entire institutions.

When one of India’s most prestigious engineering institutes, IIT Kharagpur, suddenly leapfrogged five spots in the NIRF 2025 management rankings - rising from 19th last year to 12th this year - it raised eyebrows in academic circles as well as among the student community. The surprise wasn’t just its upward climb but the fact that it displaced IIM Rohtak, a rising star in management education, pushing it down from 12th to 19th position. The same rank replacement with 19th to 12th and 12th to 19th for IIT Kharagpur Vs IIM Rohtak.

So, what explains this dramatic reshuffling? Did IIT Kharagpur’s MBA programme suddenly outshine the competition or is there more to the story?

On paper, this looks like a major win for IIT Kharagpur’s management department which is known as Vinod Gupta School of management (VGSoM). But when we dig deeper, the story gets more complicated.

The Puzzle of Student Intake

Let’s first look at admissions. In 2022–23, IIT Kharagpur’s MBA programme had a sanctioned intake of 206 seats but managed to fill only 125. That’s just about 60.67% occupancy. On the other hand, IIM Rohtak filled nearly all its seats - 262 out of 264, a 99.24% occupancy rate.

By conventional logic, an institute that struggles to fill seats shouldn’t outperform one that fills almost all of them. So, how did IIT Kharagpur climb so high?

Why Rankings Matter

The NIRF management ranking is based on several criteria, but the two most important are the following:

Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR): This checks the quality of faculty, infrastructure, and how well students are supported in their learning.

Research and Professional Practice (RP): This measures the volume and impact of research work, including publications, projects, and consultancy. Each of these parameters carries 30% weightage, meaning they can significantly tilt the rankings.

The Role of Research Scores

The answer lies in the scoring. IIT Kharagpur gained significantly in the two parameters carrying the most weight.

In TLR, it improved by 7.78 marks. In RP (research), it jumped a massive 14.84 marks. These gains were enough to push it past IIM Rohtak, even though Rohtak has a far stronger student intake.

Interestingly, IIM Rohtak lost points in the same areas - a drop of 7.75 marks in TLR and 2.50 marks in RP.

The Faculty Paradox

The real surprise comes when we look at faculty data. IIT Kharagpur’s management department reported just 23 faculty members, compared with IIM Rohtak’s robust 135. On paper, Rohtak seems far stronger in teaching resources. IIM Rohtak has 135 faculty members-almost six times as many as IIT Kharapur and yet, IIT KGP scored higher in research. How?

An investigation revealed that of the 23-faculty listed under IIT Kharagpur’s management programme, eight also appear in the engineering department ranking data.

This means their research publications, which belong to engineering or both domains, were also counted under management. That overlap gave a big boost to the MBA department’s research score which is giving IIT Kharagpur’s RP score an artificial lift.

The PhD Mystery

Another surprising detail: IIT Kharagpur claimed it had 106 full-time PhD students in management by 2023–24. With just 23 faculty members - many of them shared with engineering. This number seems hard to justify.

For comparison, IIM Rohtak, with its 135 faculty, reported only 24 PhD students.

Is IIT Kharagpur using the strength of its larger university ecosystem, especially its engineering departments, to project a stronger management research profile? Is there an overlap even in research students like there is in faculty?

What Does This Mean?

The IIT vs IIM comparison raises an important question: are we ranking dedicated business schools against multi-disciplinary giants on a level playing field?

IITs, with their massive research infrastructure, can channel engineering faculty and publications into management rankings. IIMs, however, are standalone business schools - they don’t have that luxury. Plus, management institutes focus more on case studies.

For students, this matters. A higher NIRF rank might look impressive but it doesn’t always reflect classroom experience, faculty availability, or even placement opportunities.

The Bigger Picture

The data highlights a deeper issue: are IITs leveraging their vast interdisciplinary ecosystems to bolster MBA rankings, while IIMs remain strictly within the management domain? If so, is the playing field truly level?

For aspirants and policymakers alike, the NIRF 2025 shake-up forces a rethink. Should management education rankings account for cross-departmental faculty and research, or should institutes be measured only on their dedicated business school resources?

Until these questions are answered, the rise of IIT Kharagpur and other IIT DoMS in the management rankings will continue to stir debate - whether it’s a story of innovation and interdisciplinary strength, or one of blurred lines and statistical advantage.