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Regional comparison
Colleges in Central India
Side-by-side view of states and UTs in the Central zone — institute counts, NIRF coverage, and links to each state’s own page. 8,148 institutes across 3 states · 11 NIRF-ranked in sample.
Central zone — key facts
Live data| States / UTs in this zone | 3 |
|---|---|
| Tracked institutes | 8,148 |
| With NIRF Engineering rank (sample) | 11 |
| States with dedicated pagesEach qualifying state still has its own dedicated page | 3 |
| Largest state share | Uttar Pradesh · 5299 |
Regional totals from Knwdle’s live institute list, grouped by state. This page compares states; it does not replace individual state landings.
States in Central India
Primary comparison table for this region. Open a state page for the place-level view.
| State / UT | Institutes | Share | NIRF-ranked | Best rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 5299 | 65% | 6 | #4 | State page → |
| Madhya Pradesh | 2097 | 26% | 3 | #12 | State page → |
| Chhattisgarh | 752 | 9% | 2 | #72 | State page → |
Overview
Knwdle's Central zone groups Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh — narrower than the real, statutory Central Zonal Council, which also includes Uttarakhand (we place Uttarakhand under our North zone instead, for geographic intuitiveness rather than administrative accuracy). The zone carries two of India's oldest and best-known IITs — IIT Kanpur and IIT (BHU) Varanasi, both in Uttar Pradesh — plus IIT Indore in Madhya Pradesh and NITs including MNNIT Allahabad (UP, one of the original Regional Engineering Colleges) and NIT Raipur (Chhattisgarh).
Every state above still earns its own dedicated /colleges/state page once it clears Knwdle's three-institute threshold. This zone page adds a comparison layer — counts and NIRF coverage side by side — rather than replacing a state's own page.
Key figure
Share with a cited NIRF rank
0%
Computed from every institute currently mapped to a Central-zone state on this page — not a fixed marketing number.
FAQ
- Which IITs are located in the Central zone?
- Three: IIT Kanpur and IIT (BHU) Varanasi, both in Uttar Pradesh, and IIT Indore in Madhya Pradesh. IIT Kanpur, established in 1959, was one of the original five IITs.
- Why is Uttarakhand not part of this zone?
- India's actual Central Zonal Council includes Uttarakhand alongside Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. We group Uttarakhand under our North zone instead, for a more geographically intuitive comparison — this page follows Knwdle's own grouping, not the statutory one.
- Is Uttar Pradesh the largest state in this zone by institute count?
- Check the state comparison table above — it's computed live from institutes currently tracked, not a fixed claim. Uttar Pradesh carries multiple long-established federally funded institutes (IIT Kanpur, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, MNNIT Allahabad among them).
- Do you show placement packages for institutes in this zone?
- No — the same rule applies here as everywhere on Knwdle. NIRF Graduation Outcomes (GO), an independent sub-score, is shown in place of self-reported placement figures.
Top NIRF ranks in Central India
Best Engineering ranks across this zone (up to 20). Compare states above for geographic mix.
| Rank | Institute | Type | State | GO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #4 | IIT KanpurKanpur | IIT | Uttar Pradesh | 88.1 |
| #10 | IIT BHUVaranasi | IIT | Uttar Pradesh | 86.0 |
| #12 | IIT IndoreIndore | IIT | Madhya Pradesh | 76.5 |
| #34 | AMU AligarhAligarh | PRIVATE | Uttar Pradesh | 64.2 |
| #60 | MMMUT GorakhpurGorakhpur | PRIVATE | Uttar Pradesh | 68.6 |
| #62 | MNNIT AllahabadAllahabad | NIT | Uttar Pradesh | 74.4 |
| #72 | IIT BhilaiBhilai | IIT | Chhattisgarh | 65.1 |
| #78 | RGIPT AmethiAmethi | PRIVATE | Uttar Pradesh | 67.4 |
| #81 | MANIT BhopalBhopal | NIT | Madhya Pradesh | 73.3 |
| #86 | NIT RaipurRaipur | NIT | Chhattisgarh | 66.3 |
| #96 | IIITM GwaliorGwalior | IIIT | Madhya Pradesh | 77.2 |
Top institutes in this zone
NIRF-sorted sample (72 of 8,148 tracked). Open a state page for the full list.
| Institute | State | Type | NIRF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh | IIT | #4 | View → |
| IIT BHU | Uttar Pradesh | IIT | #10 | View → |
| IIT Indore | Madhya Pradesh | IIT | #12 | View → |
| AMU Aligarh | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | #34 | View → |
| MMMUT Gorakhpur | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | #60 | View → |
| MNNIT Allahabad | Uttar Pradesh | NIT | #62 | View → |
| IIT Bhilai | Chhattisgarh | IIT | #72 | View → |
| RGIPT Amethi | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | #78 | View → |
| MANIT Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | NIT | #81 | View → |
| NIT Raipur | Chhattisgarh | NIT | #86 | View → |
| IIITM Gwalior | Madhya Pradesh | IIIT | #96 | View → |
| 3 EME Centre, Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aacharya Sitaram Chaturvedi Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aacharya Triveni Das Balika Mahavidyalaya, Ghazipur | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aadarsh Mahavidyalaya, Datrenga | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aadarsh Nursing Institute, Raipur | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aadhya Mahavidyalaya, Sagar | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aadinath College of Education, Maharra | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aadishakti College, Mau | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aadishree Girls College for Higher Education, Meerut | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| AAFT University of Media and Arts, Raipur | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aakanksha College of Law, Muzzaffarnagar | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aakanksha College, Muzaffarnagar | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aakanksha Lions School for Mentally Handicapped, Raipur | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
How to use this page
- 1Start with the state comparison table — counts, NIRF coverage, and best rank per state.
- 2Open a state page for the place-level view, or a profile for scorecards and sourced content.
- 3Use Rankings for the national table, or Compare for a neutral side-by-side of 2–3 colleges.
Frequently asked questions
Answers use counts from this page's live institute list.
- How many institutes appear for Central zone?
- 72 institutes currently match this page’s filter. 11 of them have a numeric NIRF Engineering rank in our database.
- Is “best” based on editorial opinion?
- No. Where we sort or headline by rank, the order follows published NIRF Engineering ranks (nirfindia.org). Unranked institutes are not given a fabricated Knwdle rank.
- What is Graduation Outcomes (GO)?
- GO is an NIRF sub-score (independent of self-reported packages). On this page, 11 institutes have a GO value; the average among those is 73.4.
- How is this different from a state page?
- This is a multi-state comparison for the geographic zone. Every state that clears the institute threshold still has its own /colleges/state page — this layer puts their counts and NIRF coverage side by side.
What we publish — and what we don't
Included when sourced
- NIRF Engineering ranks & sub-scores (nirfindia.org)
- JoSAA closing ranks already in our database
- Programmes from AICTE EOA / institute official catalogues
- Fees & admissions copy only from the institute's own site
- Campus images from Wikimedia Commons or official media
Deliberately excluded
- Star reviews and self-reported placement packages
- Fees estimated or copied from aggregator directories
- Facts that appear only on compiled third-party college directories
NIRF Graduation Outcomes (GO) is the honest substitute for placement-intent browsing — an independent metric, not a package figure.
Explore the directory
Zone id: /colleges/region/central