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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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aakriti Institute of Fine Arts, Jabalpur | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aala Hazrat Degree College, Bareilly | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aamna Law College, Ghaziabad | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| AARBEE College of Nursing, Bilaspur | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aashlar Business School, Mathura | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aasra College, Bijnor | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aastha Educational Institute, Modinagar | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Aastha Nursing and Paramedical College, Kanpur Nagar | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abdul Aziz Ansari Degree College, Jaunpur | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abdul Gaffar Mahavidyalaya, Unnao | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abdul Kalam College of Education, Meerut | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abdul Razaq Memorial Degree College, Shahpur | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abdul Razzaq Degree College, Amroha | Uttar Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abhilasha College of Education, Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abhilasha College of Management, Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abhishek Institute of Professional Studies, Gwalior | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abhishek Mishra Memorial Medical College and Research, Bhilai | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Abhyuday University, Khargone | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| ABVM Group of College, Bhind | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Academy of Computer Science and Technology, Jabalpur | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Academy of Management, Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Academy of Nursing and Health Sciences, Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Acharya Panth Shri Grindh Muni Naam Saheb Government PG College, Kawardha | Chhattisgarh | PRIVATE | — | View → |
| Acharya Rajendra Suri Shiksha Mahavidhyalaya, Mandsaur | Madhya Pradesh | 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