IIT Madras has been judged as India's best engineering college in the India Rankings 2016 report.

Highlights HRD Ministry ranks IIT Madras India's best engineering college

IIM Bangalore ranked India's best management institute

Rankings based on first-of-its-kind survey commissioned by government

IIT Madras has been picked India's best engineering college - followed by IIT Mumbai and IIT Kharagpur - by Smriti Irani's Human Resource Development Ministry.The best management institute is IIM Bangalore with IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta as first and second runner up respectively. The report by Ms Irani's department , India Rankings 2016 seeks to "empower students and parents" while creating healthy competition among educational institutes, the ministry said.The rankings - which cover government and private institutions - have been released ahead of the next academic year which starts in the summer for college students.Jawaharlal Nehru University or Delhi's JNU - where three students were recently and provocatively arrested on charges of sedition - has been rated the country's third-best university.The National Rankings were commissioned in September, as the first domestic list of its kind. 3,500 institutes have been covered.Most of India's colleges do not appear on international surveys of the best institutions because of gaps in collecting and presenting data. The report released today says, "Many institutions failed to put their best foot forward, when it came to supplying quality data. The point being emphasised here is 'quality'. Some of the institutions were definitely casual in supplying the data sought."Significantly, perception among students, alumni, parents, employees and the public was one of the key parameters on which these institutes were ranked by a committee of experts.Teaching and learning resources and research capabilities and facilities were other key criteria.