Institution
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa
Central agricultural university at Pusa, Samastipur, created in 2016 when an Act of Parliament converted the state's Rajendra Agricultural University. Its College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology runs B.Tech and M.Tech engineering programmes and a drone pilot training organisation.
Central instituteCentral governmentPusa
What's confirmed
7 sourced facts
- The Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University Act, 2016 (No. 32 of 2016) received the President's assent on 28 May 2016 and was published in the Gazette of India the same day. It converts the existing Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, into a central university and declares it an institution of national importance.
- The College of Agricultural Engineering was established on 7 December 1983 under the then Rajendra Agricultural University and was renamed the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology in 2022, per the college's own page.
- Programme start years and intake as listed by the college: B.Tech Agricultural Engineering 1983 (44), B.Tech Food Technology 2021 (33), M.Tech Farm Machinery and Power Engineering 1988, M.Tech Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 2023, Ph.D. Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 2025.
- The college lists a Remote Pilot Training Organisation and a 5G Use Case Laboratory among its technology centres, and lists 2023 MoUs for an RPTO and drone repair centre (with Dronier Aviation, Rohtas, and IoTech World, Gurugram) and for the 5G lab (with Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd). These are the university's own statements.
- The vice-chancellor gave certificates to the first batch of students trained as drone pilots at Pusa in October 2023 (see the record 'RPCAU Pusa certifies its first batch of trained drone pilots').
- NIRF Agriculture ranks: 33 (2023), 29 (2024) and 14 (2025). nirfindia.org has no Agriculture list for 2017-2022; the category first appears in 2023.
- NIRF University band 151-200 in 2023 and 2024 and 101-150 in 2025, and NIRF Overall band 151-200 in 2025. These are separate rankings from Agriculture.
Still to be confirmed
6 open questions
- The date the 2016 Act came into force. Section 1(2) leaves it to a central notification, which was not retrieved.
- Any AI or data science degree programme. In April 2024 the vice-chancellor said short- and long-term courses in drone maintenance, AI and IoT were planned (The Times of India); none was found running. In October 2023 he said a school of digital agriculture would start 'soon'; no opening was found.
- Whether the RPTO holds a DGCA authorisation, and its number and date. The MoU list gives only the year 2023.
- Current intake for B.Tech Biotechnology, which comes from a 2019-20 admission page.
- The tech_programmes list is incomplete; it covers only the engineering college page and the 2019-20 admission table.
- Years absent from a NIRF category (for example University before 2023) are not evidence that the university was unranked; the published lists may not run deep enough.
NIRF ranking history (3 editions)
As published each year. A blank cell means the institution was not in that year's list, which is not the same as being unranked.
| Year | Agriculture | Overall | University |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #14 | Band 151-200 | Band 101-150 |
| 2024 | #29 | — | Band 151-200 |
| 2023 | #33 | — | Band 151-200 |
Technology programmes (5)
Only programmes a source names; the list may not be complete
- B.Tech Agricultural Engineering (College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology; start year 1983, intake 44)
- B.Tech Food Technology (start year 2021, intake 33)
- B.Tech Biotechnology (55 seats in the 2019-20 admission table)
- M.Tech in Farm Machinery and Power, Soil and Water Conservation, Processing and Food, and Irrigation and Drainage Engineering (Irrigation and Drainage from 2023)
- Drone pilot training through the college's Remote Pilot Training Organisation
Sources (12)
Who reported it, when, and what they cover
| Publisher | Published | Covers | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Gazette of India, Ministry of Law and Justice (copy on rpcau.ac.in) Official government |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
RPCAU, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology Official institution |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
RPCAU Official institution |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
NIRF, Ministry of Education Ranking body |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Times of India Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Times of India Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) |
Record ID: BIHAR-INST-020Dataset last checked Spotted an error? Report a correctionHow corrections work