Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) | ARIIA Ranking 2020

The Ministry of Education announced the ARIIA Ranking 2020 on 18th August 2020. ARIIA stands for Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements. Key Highlights of ARIIA 2020 Ranks:

1. A subcategory for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) for Women was introduced in 2020.
2. IIT, Madras ranked 1st as the Institute of National Importance.

ARIIA Rankings 2021 will be announced in May 2021.

Questions from the topic, ‘ARIIA’ can be asked in both preliminary and mains examination of the IAS Exam. From this article, you will be able to learn inter alia:

• What is ARIIA?
• What is the latest ARIIA Rankings?
• ARIIA Framework 2021
• How many parameters are used in the ARIIA ranking?
• What are the categories of ranks in ARIIA?
• How many Highest Education Institutions (HEIs) participate in ARIIA?

You can also read similar articles that will help you prepare for innovation and education-related topics from the linked articles below:

What is ARIIA?

The ARIIA is a national ranking system initiated by the Ministry of Education in 2018 to rank higher education institutions (HEIs) on different indicators of innovation. As per the Ministry, ‘The idea behind ARIIA ranking is to inspire Indian institutions to reorient their mindset and build ecosystems to encourage high-quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship.’

The innovation in HEIs is one of the ways to help India emerge as a global innovation hub. Hence, ARIIA ranking brings forth the institutions that align themselves with the responsibilities to build a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

How many parameters are used in the ARIIA Rankings?

There are six main parameters with different weightage upon which the ARIIA ranks are built:

1. Programs and Activities on IPR, Innovation, Start-up and Entrepreneurship – 7.5
2. Pre Incubation & Incubation Infrastructure & Facilities to Support Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) – 7.5
3. Annual Budget Spent on Promoting and Supporting I&E Activities – 13
4. Courses on Innovation, IPR and Entrepreneurship Development – 05
5. Intellectual Property (IP), Technology Transfer and Commercialization – 32
6. Successful Innovation and Start-ups & Funding Innovation & Start-ups – 35

What are the categories of ranks in ARIIA?

The two broad categories of ranks under ARIIA are:

1. Public Funded Institutions
   • Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs
   • State University & Deemed Universities (Government & Government. Aided)
   • Government and Government / Aided College/Institutes
2. Private or Self-Financed Institutions
   • Private or Self-Financed Universities.
   • Private or Self-Financed College/Institutes

What are the objectives of ARIIA?

One of the main objectives of ARIIA is to improve India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and bring it in the top 30 in a period of 5 years (by 2025). The other objectives are:

1. It aims to direct HEIs towards focusing on establishing a strong startup ecosystem on campus.
2. It measures the innovation and Startup ecosystem based on the following parameters:
   1. Input
   2. Process
   3. Output and
   4. Outcome
3. It aims to focus more on quality aspects of Startup ecosystems. The quantity of such ecosystems too is evaluated.
4. It measures the impact of HEIs’ innovations and startup on society and the market.

ARIIA 2021

The ARIIA Rankings 2021 will classify the HEIs under two heads:

1. Technical HEI
2. Non-Technical HEI

There is a special sub-category – ‘HEI exclusively for Women Education’ that will be included under both heads.

Both technical and non-technical HEIs will then be categorised into:

1. Publicly Funded Institutions
2. Privately/Self-Financed Institutions

ARIIA Parameters and Weightage 2021

The ARIIA 2021 rankings parameters and weightage are given in the table below. “Participation of HEI in I & E Initiative of MOE” is a special section added in the parameters list:

ARIIA 2020

The total number of HEIs that participated in ARIIA 2020 was 674. The highest number (373) of participation came from the category of ‘Privately/Self-Financed College or Institutes. It was followed by:

1. Government and Government Aided Colleges/Institutes – 121
2. Privately/Self Financed Universities & Deemed to be Universities – 80
3. Institutes of National Importance & Central Universities – 62
4. Government and Government Aided Universities & Deemed to be Universities – 38

ARIIA Rankings 2020 – Rank 1

The top ranks in different categories are listed below:

ARIIA Ranking 2020 – Top 3

Under the category, ‘Publicly Funded Institution’, the top three in different sub-categories are:

1. Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs
   • Rank 1 – Indian Institute of Technology Madras
   • Rank 2 – Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
   • Rank 3 – Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
2. Govt. and Govt. Aided Universities
   • Rank 1 – Institute of Chemical Technology
   • Rank 2 – Panjab University
   • Rank 3 – Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University
3. Govt. and Govt. Aided College/Institutes
   • Rank 1 – College of Engineering Pune
   • Rank 2 – PES College of Engineering, Karnataka
   • Rank 3 – Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu

Under the category, ‘Private/Self-Financed Institution’, the top three in different sub-categories are:

1. Private or Self-Financed Universities
   • Rank 1 – Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Khordha
   • Rank 2 – S.R.M. Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu
   • Rank 3 – Vellore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu
2. Private or Self-Financed College/Institutes
   • Rank 1 – S R Engineering College
   • Rank 2 – G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur
   • Rank 3 – Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology

Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University Women was among the only two to be ranked under the special category – Higher Educational Institutions Exclusively for Women. Avinashilingam Institute For Home Science And Higher Education For Women was ranked 1st in this category.

The above-mentioned notes will be helpful for UPSC 2021 preparation.

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