IIFT moves up twelve places to 15th in NIRF ranking

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) The commerce ministry's Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) has moved up twelve places to 15th rank under the management category in the NIRF ranking 2024.

The ranking under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was released by the HRD ministry on August 12.

In the last year's ranking, IIFT was at 27th spot as against 24th in 2022.

It was 25th in 2021, 26th in 2020 and 31st in 2019. The institute was ranked at 23rd rank in 2018, 30th in 2017 and 81st in 2016.

NIRF was launched in 2015 to rank higher educational institutions in the country based on objective criteria to promote competitive excellence in such institutions.

IIFT was established in 1963 as an autonomous body under the ministry to contribute in the skill building for the external trade sector of India. It conducts educational programmes such as PhD, MBA (International Business), MBA (Business Analytics) and MA Economics specialising in International Trade and Finance.

Commenting on the rankings, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyuh Goyal said that the institute has made a remarkable progress.

"With India's growing influence in global trade, this achievement highlights IIFT's crucial role in nurturing future leaders in international business," he said on the social media platform X (formerly twitter).

Commerce Secretary and IIFT Chancellor Sunil Barthwal said that the ministry would provide full support to the institute for conducting cutting-edge research on contemporary issues in international trade, including bilateral and multilateral trade engagements, exports promotion and institutional development.

IIFT Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Mohan Joshi said that in the recent months, the brand image and perception of the institute had improved significantly.

"The institute has taken a host of holistic initiatives to improve its teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practices, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity and perception," Joshi said.

Talking about new initiatives, he said that the institute is in the process of establishing a state-of-the-art Centre for International Negotiations to provide world class training to corporates and policy makers on international negotiations.

Besides, IIFT is also establishing Foreign Trade Case Study Centre (FTCSC) to work closely with exporters, governments and businesses and develop world class case studies on the lines of Harvard and share Indian experiences on international trade with the rest of the world.

"The institute has evolved an ambitious plan to work closely with the governments -- central and states -- and carry out insightful research on issues of contemporary importance, besides high-end capacity building programmes," Joshi added.

He said that IIFT is also contemplating to commence an offshore campus in Dubai. PTI RR SGC HVA