April 3: Jadavpur University is the best state university in India and fifth among all universities in a ranking by the Union human resource development ministry that opens the door to a potential grant of several hundred crores.

The list of top 10 colleges in the country features a Calcutta institute - St. Xavier's College - in sixth place. Miranda House, Delhi, tops that list. Loreto College, Calcutta, is 18th.

Calcutta University, also a state university like Jadavpur, is fourth among state universities and 16th among all universities.

Presidency University, chasing the glory of its halycon days as a college, figures nowhere on the top 100 lists drawn up by the Centre. The institutes had been assessed in five categories - overall, universities, engineering, management and colleges.

Jadavpur University was rated in three categories: overall, universities and engineering. Calcutta and Presidency were assessed in two categories: overall and universities.

The 62-year-old JU was rated the 12th best institute "overall" after competing with the cream of the crop that included the IITs, NITs, IIMs and state-aided, centrally-funded and private research institutes.

Vice-chancellor Suranjan Das described it as "a great achievement", more so because of the windfall that might follow.

"By securing the 12th rank overall, Jadavpur University is now eligible to apply for an upgrade to a world-class institute, for which the Centre could allot a huge grant of up to Rs 1,000 crore...This is a great achievement for our university and the outcome of the collective creative spirit of our faculty, students, research scholars and university officials to achieve the top position," he told Metro after receiving a call from the HRD ministry.

The Centre has decided to upgrade 20 institutes in the country to world-class facilities, Das said.

"The first 25 institutes in the overall list drawn up by the HRD ministry will be eligible to apply for the upgrade under this scheme. We are happy that we have been able to secure 12th position."

This is the first time that JU had participated in the ranking exercise conducted under the National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ditto Calcutta University.

Presidency University had applied last year too, securing the 41st rank in what was then called the "general" list. Calcutta University is not eligible for the upgrade opportunity after being ranked 29th overall.

For Presidency, not finding a place in the top 100 is a jolt. When Metro contacted registrar Debajyoti Konar, he said: "We had applied on time. We are surprised to find that our institute did not find mention among the universities that were ranked. We are writing a letter to the NIRF seeking to know what went wrong."