NIRF Pharmacy Ranking 2026: Date, 2025 Standings & Trends
· Updated: August 17, 2026 · By Edhitch Research Team
The NIRF 2026 pharmacy ranking has not been released yet. As of August 2026, the Data Capturing System is closed and the cycle has completed verification. Based on the recent release pattern — June 2023, August 2024 and September 2025 — the NIRF 2026 pharmacy list is expected within the August–September 2026 window. Until then, the most recent official standings are from NIRF 2025 (below), where Jamia Hamdard held No. 1 in a year of unusually heavy movement further down the table. This page will be updated with the NIRF 2026 pharmacy rankings within hours of the official release.
When the NIRF 2026 pharmacy ranking releases
NIRF has no fixed statutory release date, and the announcement has drifted later across recent cycles — NIRF 2023 in June, NIRF 2024 in August, and NIRF 2025 on September 4. With the 2026 Data Capturing System closed and verification complete, the pharmacy list is realistically expected in the August–September 2026 window. Several education portals currently display specific 2026 dates; those are estimates, not announcements. For the official status and the full timeline, see our NIRF 2026 release date tracker.
NIRF 2025 pharmacy top 10 (the most recent official list)
Until NIRF 2026 is published, these are the most recent official rankings, from India Rankings 2025 (released September 4, 2025). Unlike the engineering table, the pharmacy list moved sharply in 2025: BITS Pilani rose to 2nd and pushed NIPER Hyderabad down to 5th, Panjab University climbed four places to 3rd, and SRM IST Chennai broke into the top 10.
| NIRF 2025 Rank | Institution | Location | vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamia Hamdard | New Delhi | Held at No. 1 |
| 2 | BITS Pilani | Pilani, Rajasthan | ▲ Up from 3 |
| 3 | Panjab University | Chandigarh | ▲ Up from 7 |
| 4 | JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty | Ooty, Tamil Nadu | Held |
| 5 | NIPER Hyderabad | Hyderabad, Telangana | ▼ Down from 2 |
| 6 | ICT Mumbai (Institute of Chemical Technology) | Mumbai, Maharashtra | ▼ Down from 5 |
| 7 | JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru | Mysuru, Karnataka | ▼ Down from 6 |
| 8 | Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Udupi, Karnataka | Held |
| 9 | NIPER Mohali | Mohali, Punjab | Held |
| 10 | SRM Institute of Science & Technology (SRM IST) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | ★ New entry (up from 11) |
Source: NIRF India Rankings 2025 (Pharmacy), Ministry of Education, released September 4, 2025 (nirfindia.org). Jamia Hamdard has led the pharmacy category in consecutive recent cycles.
Want the parameter-level view? Rankings tell you the order; the five parameters (TLR, RP, GO, OI, PR) tell you why — and in pharmacy, research output (RP) is where most of the movement happens. See our NIRF Ranking Criteria guide for how each is weighted and scored.
The multi-year trend: who is actually climbing
Pharmacy is one of the more volatile NIRF categories, and 2025 showed why. Jamia Hamdard anchored the top, but everything beneath it moved: the second-placed institution changed hands, NIPER Hyderabad fell three places from 2nd to 5th, Panjab University climbed four to 3rd, and SRM IST entered the top 10 for the first time.
The pattern across cycles is consistent. The NIPER campuses swing on research output — they rise and fall faster than any other group in the category. Private and deemed institutions such as BITS Pilani, Manipal and SRM have trended upward across multiple cycles. Traditional publics such as ICT Mumbai have drifted down. In a category this research-weighted, a single strong or weak publication cycle moves an institution several places.
Edhitch's 7-year NIRF dataset tracks every ranked pharmacy institution across cycles, separating durable climbers from one-year spikes.
Source: Edhitch proprietary NIRF dataset (7 years, 13 disciplines) and published NIRF ranks across cycles.
What carries into NIRF 2026
The five-parameter structure is unchanged — Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR); Research & Professional Practice (RP); Graduation Outcomes (GO); Outreach & Inclusivity (OI); and Perception (PR). The rules introduced in the NIRF 2025 cycle carry forward into 2026, and in pharmacy they land squarely on research integrity — which is where this category is decided:
- Negative marking for retracted publications in the RP parameter, introduced in NIRF 2025 — research-intensive pharmacy institutions, including the NIPER campuses, are the most exposed if citation profiles aren't clean.
- Tighter treatment of self-citations and third-party citations, continuing NIRF's shift toward research quality over raw counts.
- The SDG category, introduced as the 17th category in 2025, continues in 2026.
Confirm final methodology against the official NIRF 2026 methodology document on nirfindia.org before relying on specifics.
What to expect in the 2026 pharmacy list
Pharmacy is the category to watch, because it actually moves. Only one thing is close to certain: Jamia Hamdard's hold on No. 1. Everything below it is genuinely open — in 2025 alone the second-place institution changed, NIPER Hyderabad fell three places, Panjab University jumped four, and a new institution entered the top 10. The research-integrity rules tilt the odds further: the RP-heavy NIPER campuses and the fast-rising private institutions have the most to gain or lose from how retractions and citations are scored in 2026. When the list drops, the real story won't be the No. 1 — it will be who moved in the 2–10 scramble, and on which parameter.
Frequently asked questions
When will the NIRF 2026 pharmacy ranking be released?
As of August 2026, it has not been released. The Data Capturing System is closed and the cycle has completed verification. Based on the recent pattern (June 2023, August 2024, September 2025), the NIRF 2026 pharmacy list is expected within the August–September 2026 window. The official date is announced by the Ministry of Education on nirfindia.org.
Which is the No. 1 pharmacy college in NIRF 2025?
Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, is No. 1 in the NIRF pharmacy category in 2025, retaining the top spot. It is followed by BITS Pilani (2), Panjab University (3), JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty (4) and NIPER Hyderabad (5).
What changed in the NIRF 2025 pharmacy top 10?
A lot. BITS Pilani rose to 2nd, pushing NIPER Hyderabad down to 5th. Panjab University climbed four places to 3rd. ICT Mumbai slipped from 5th to 6th, and SRM IST Chennai entered the top 10 at 10th. Jamia Hamdard held No. 1.
What is changing in the NIRF 2026 methodology for pharmacy?
The research-integrity rules introduced in the NIRF 2025 cycle carry into 2026, including negative marking for retracted publications in the RP parameter — which weighs heavily for research-intensive pharmacy institutions such as the NIPER campuses. The SDG category continues, and the five-parameter structure (TLR, RP, GO, OI, PR) remains. Confirm final details against the official NIRF 2026 methodology document.
Is your pharmacy institution trying to break into — or climb within — the rankings? In pharmacy, movement is driven by research output and data discipline across the five parameters, not by teaching alone. Edhitch's pharmacy diagnostic identifies exactly where your score leaks, built on a 7-year proprietary NIRF dataset. See the NIRF Ranking Improvement Framework, or request a free position audit below.
Official sources
- NIRF India — Official Portal
- NIRF Notifications & Advertisements
- Ministry of Education, Government of India
NIRF 2025 pharmacy standings reflect the official India Rankings 2025 release (September 4, 2025). Scores are deliberately not published on this page pending confirmation against the official NIRF 2025 pharmacy PDF. NIRF 2026 figures will be added from the official release. Last reviewed: August 17, 2026.