National Law Institute University Bhopal is a state law university set up in 1997 by the Madhya Pradesh legislature and was the second National Law University in India after NLSIU Bangalore. Located on a 50-acre residential campus on Kerwa Dam Road in Bhopal, it offers a 5-year BA LLB (Hons) admitted through CLAT and was ranked 27 in NIRF Law 2025.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Type | State law university (Madhya Pradesh, government) |
| Location | Kerwa Dam Road, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh |
| Campus | About 50 acres, fully residential |
| Flagship programme | Five-year BA LLB (Hons) |
| Admission | CLAT through Consortium of NLUs |
| BA LLB fee | Rs 1.56 lakh per year tuition; total academic fee about Rs 10 to 11 lakh over 5 years (hostel/mess extra) |
| 2023-24 placements | BA LLB/B.Sc LLB: 48 placed (median Rs 16 LPA); LLM: median Rs 7 LPA; MCLIS: median Rs 8.5 LPA |
| NIRF 2025 | Law rank 27 |
| NIRF 2024 | Law rank 21 |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof. S. Surya Prakash (since June 2023) |
| Chancellor | Chief Justice, High Court of Madhya Pradesh |
| Official website | nliu.ac.in |
| Programme | Level | Duration | Admission | Approx fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA LLB (Hons) | UG | 5-year | CLAT | ₹10.99 lakh total |
| B.Sc LLB (Hons) Cyber Security | UG | 5-year | CLAT | ₹10.99 lakh total |
| Master of Laws | PG | 1-year | CLAT PG | ₹2.2 lakh total |
| Master of Cyber Law and Information Security | PG | 2-year | NLIU Entrance | ₹4.28 lakh total |
| Doctor of Philosophy in Law | PHD | - | NLIU PhD Entrance | - |
National Law Institute University Bhopal, commonly known as NLIU Bhopal, is a state law university located in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. It was established by the Rashtriya Vidhi Sansthan Vishwavidyalaya Adhiniyam, Act No. 41 of 1997 enacted by the Madhya Pradesh State Legislature, and was the second National Law University to be set up in India after NLSIU Bangalore. Academic sessions at NLIU formally commenced on 1 September 1998. The Chancellor of the university is the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh and the Vice-Chancellor since June 2023 is Prof. S. Surya Prakash.
The permanent campus spans about 50 acres on Kerwa Dam Road on the outskirts of Bhopal and is fully residential, with separate hostels for boys and girls, mess facilities, a three-floor library housed in the Grant Mandir building, a gymnasium, sports grounds and guest accommodation. NLIU is approved by the University Grants Commission, the Bar Council of India and the Association of Indian Universities.
The flagship programme is the five-year integrated BA LLB (Hons) with an annual intake of about 134 students, admitted through the Common Law Admission Test conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities. NLIU also runs a five-year B.Sc LLB (Hons) with a cyber security focus, a one-year LLM with specialisations in Intellectual Property, Constitutional and Human Rights law, the two-year Master of Cyber Law and Information Security (MCLIS) administered by the Rajiv Gandhi National Cyber Law Centre established in 2009, and PhD programmes in law.
Tuition for the BA LLB and B.Sc LLB programmes is Rs 1.56 lakh per year. Including all other academic charges (exam, library, facilities, moot court), the total academic fee over the five-year programme works out to about Rs 10 to 11 lakh; hostel room rent and mess are charged separately.
In the National Institutional Ranking Framework, NLIU Bhopal was ranked 27 in the Law category in 2025 with a score of 57.64, 21 in 2024, and 18 in 2023. Despite the recent slide in NIRF rank, the university remains among the most preferred NLUs in CLAT counselling, with the BA LLB (Hons) general category cutoff closing inside the top 500 All India Ranks in CLAT.
In the 2023-24 placement cycle reported through the NIRF 2025 disclosure, 113 BA LLB and B.Sc LLB students graduated, of whom 48 joined employment with a median package of about Rs 16 lakh per annum; the remaining 60 pursued further studies including LLM programmes and judicial services preparation. One-year LLM graduates secured a median of Rs 7 lakh per annum and two-year MCLIS graduates a median of Rs 8.5 lakh per annum. Top recruiters include tier-one Indian law firms such as Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan and Co, AZB and Partners, Luthra and Luthra, Trilegal, J Sagar Associates and Induslaw, alongside corporate employers such as KPMG, Deloitte, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
NLIU houses several specialised research centres, including the Rajiv Gandhi National Cyber Law Centre (2009) and the Centre for Business and Commercial Law (2008), and publishes the NLIU Law Review, the NLIU Journal of Intellectual Property Law and the Indian Law Review.
Set up in 1997 as the second National Law University in India after NLSIU Bangalore, with classes commencing in 1998, NLIU Bhopal carries nearly three decades of legal education experience.
Despite an NIRF 2025 Law rank of 27, NLIU Bhopal is among the most preferred NLUs in CLAT counselling, with BA LLB (Hons) general category seats closing below All India Rank 500.
The 2023-24 NIRF disclosure: 48 BA LLB/B.Sc LLB graduates placed at a median of Rs 16 LPA; 60 others pursued further studies. The two-year MCLIS recorded a median of Rs 8.5 LPA and the one-year LLM a median of Rs 7 LPA.
Home to the Rajiv Gandhi National Cyber Law Centre set up in 2009 and a dedicated 5-year B.Sc LLB (Hons) in Cyber Security, alongside the Master of Cyber Law and Information Security.
Publishes the NLIU Law Review, the NLIU Journal of Intellectual Property Law, and the Indian Law Review, with active centres for business and commercial law and constitutional law.
Honest caveat: NLIU Bhopal has slipped in NIRF Law from rank 15 in 2022 to 27 in 2025, with relatively weak Teaching and Learning Resources scores compared to peer NLUs, and its alumni network is smaller than NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad or NUJS Kolkata. The Kerwa Dam Road campus is about 15 km from central Bhopal, so student life is largely campus-bound, and the BA LLB general category seat still demands a CLAT All India Rank inside the top 500.
| Framework | Category | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIRF | Law | 2025 | #27 |
| NIRF | Law | 2024 | #21 |
| NIRF | Law | 2023 | #18 |
Separate on-campus hostels for boys and girls on the 50-acre residential Kerwa Dam Road campus, with mess, common rooms, study areas, and round-the-clock security for all full-time students.
3 courses offered. Fees in INR lakhs.
| Course | Specialization | Duration | Total seats | Total fee | Avg package |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.Sc (Bachelor of Science) | LLB | — | 60 | — | — |
| LLB (Bachelor of Laws) | — | 60 months | 134 | ₹10.99L | — |
| LLM (Master of Laws) | — | 12 months | — | ₹2.2L | — |
1-year placement history, latest data from 2024.
5 cutoff records across exams, courses, and categories.
| Year | R | Exam | Course | Category | Gender | Quota | Opening | Closing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | CLAT | LLB (Bachelor of Laws) | General | Gender-Neutral | AI | — | 450 |
| 2024 | 1 | CLAT | LLB (Bachelor of Laws) | OBC | Gender-Neutral | AI | — | 1315 |
| 2024 | 1 | CLAT | LLB (Bachelor of Laws) | SC | Gender-Neutral | AI | — | 5178 |
| 2024 | 1 | CLAT | LLB (Bachelor of Laws) | ST | Gender-Neutral | AI | — | 11527 |
| 2024 | 1 | CLAT | LLB (Bachelor of Laws) | EWS | Gender-Neutral | AI | — | 1376 |
Campus size, faculty strength, hostel facilities, and academic infrastructure.
