Engineers’ Day 2023: Know history of IITs, rankings and more

The committee believed that the aim of these institutes should not be limited to producing engineering graduates, and IITs should also focus on research, producing research workers and technical teachers. The committee wanted to match the international standards in research. They aimed to have the proportion of undergraduates and postgraduate students as 2:1.

There are a total of 23 IITs in the country at present. (Graphics by Deeksha Teri)

Pre-existing Institutes that were converted into IITs

IIT Roorkee (established in 1847, became an IIT in 2001)

The institute was given the title of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) on September 21, 2001 but the history of the college is nearly 175 years old.

IIT Roorkee originally began as a training school at Saharanpur in 1845 and was called Thomason College of Engineering from 1847 to 1947. On September 21, 1853, the college was renamed Thomason College of Civil Engineering. The entrance test for college began in 1857. In 1864, the Roorkee College was affiliated to Calcutta University. In 1905, the affiliation to Allahabad University ended.

In 1948, Roorkee University Act was passed by the provincial legislature and in 1949, Thomason College was elevated to university status.

IIT Varanasi (established in 1919, became an IIT in 2012)

IIT BHU was established in 1919. The institutes started with the establishment of Banaras Engineering College (BENCO), and the next stage saw the establishment of the College of Technology (TECHNO) and the College of Mining and Metallurgy (MINMET). With time, it merged to form the Institute of Technology (IT-BHU).

On June 29, 2012, the institute became IIT (BHU) Varanasi by an Act of Parliament. The over 100-year-old institute was established by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.

IIT Dhanbad (established in 1926, became an IIT in 2016)

In December 1901, a resolution by the Indian National Congress at its XVII session stated that: “In view of the fact that the tendency of recent legislation namely, The Indian Mines Act VII of 1901, is that all Indian mines must be kept under the supervision of mining experts.”

The Indian School of Mines and Applied Geology at Dhanbad was established by the then Viceroy Lord Irwin on December 9, 1926. In 1996-97, the Indian government took over the control of the institute. On September 6, 2016, the Indian School of Mines (ISM) became the Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad.

Top 10 IITs as per NIRF 2023– Overall and Engineering

IIT Madras – (Overall 1 and Engineering 1)

In 1956, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany offered assistance to establish a higher technological institute in India. It resulted in the signing of the first Indo-German Agreement in Bonn in 1959 to establish IIT Madras. The Institute was formally inaugurated in 1959 by professor Humayun Kabir, then Union Minister for Scientific and Cultural Affairs.

IIT Delhi – (Overall 3 and Engineering 2)

IIT Delhi was established as College of Engineering in 1961 and later declared as an Institution of National Importance under the ‘Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 1963’ and renamed as IIT Delhi. IIT Delhi is a collaboration with the Government of the UK. The then Indian government negotiated with the British government to set up IIT Delhi.

IIT Bombay – (Overall 4 and Engineering 3)

Established in 1958, it was the second IIT in the country. It was the first to be set up with foreign assistance receiving funds from UNESCO, it came as Roubles from the then Soviet Union. In 1961, the Parliament decreed the IITs as ‘Institutes of National Importance’.

IIT Kanpur – (Overall 5 and Engineering 4)

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur was established by the government in 1959. It began its operations in a borrowed building of Harcourt Butler Technological Institute with 100 students. Today, the institute has its own residential campus for about 2255 undergraduate and 1476 postgraduate students, 309 faculty members and over 900 supporting staff members.

IIT Kharagpur – (Overall 7 and Engineering 6)

The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur was the first IIT to be established in the country. It was established in May 1950 in Hijli, Kharagpur. In the first batch (August 1951), there were 224 freshers and 42 teachers.

IIT Roorkee – (Overall 8 and Engineering 5)

The institute was given the title of Indian Institute of Technology on September 21, 2001. In December 2001, Dr Prem Vrat took charge as the director of IIT Roorkee. In October 2022, Professor Kamal Kishore Pant took charge as director.

IIT Guwahati – (Overall 9 and Engineering 7)

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is the sixth member of the IIT fraternity. It was established in 1994 and the academic programme commenced in 1995.

IIT Hyderabad – (Overall 14 and Engineering 8)

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) was established in 2008. It offers undergraduate programmes in engineering disciplines, applied sciences, and design as well several interdisciplinary areas. There are separate programmes for technology, design, science and liberal arts.

IIT Gandhinagar – (Overall 24)

IIT Gandhinagar was founded in 2008 and is located in Palaj, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) on the banks of River Sabarmati. It is India’s first five-star GRIHA LD (Green) campus for minimising the negative impact on the environment.

IIT Indore – (Overall 28 and Engineering 14)

IIT Indore was established in 2009. The institute started functioning from a temporary campus at the Institute of Engineering and Technology of Devi Ahilya University under the mentorship of IIT Bombay in 2009–10.

IIT Dhanbad – (Engineering 17)

The Indian School of Mines and Applied Geology at Dhanbad was established by the hands of the then Viceroy Lord Irwin on December 9, 1926.