Indian Institute of Information Technology - IIIT in India

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology popularly known as IIIT’s is a group of 23 (as on 21st May 2018) Autonomous institution (Like that of Indian Institute of Technology - IITs and National Institute of Technology - NITs) of higher education focused basically on the Information Technology. Five of these institutes of National Importance is established, funded and managed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Rest 18 are set up on the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Before 2010 a group of four renowned Institutes of National Importance - Indian Institute of Information Technology - IIIT Allahabad (established in 1999), Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management - IIITM Gwalior (first IIIT of country) Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, - IIITDM Jabalpur and Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing Kancheepuram - IIITDM Kancheepuram – were established and offering higher education in India, focused only on the information technology.  In 2010 a bill was passed as the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act, 2014 to grant these institute a status of Institute of National Importance and the fifth institute was set by the MHRD in Kurnool in 2015. The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2017 granted the INI status to the Kurnool institute.

Besides the above fully government funded IIITs, in 2010 the Union Cabinet approved a scheme for setting up 20 more IIITs, based on the public-private partnership (PPP) model, funded by the central government, state governments and industry partners in the ratio 50:35:15

On 9th August 2017, The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 has been notified in the Gazette of India. The Act confers the status of Institutes of National Importance to fifteen IIITs set up on the PPP mode in Vadodara, Guwahati, Sri City, Kota, Tiruchirapalli, Kalyani, Una, Sonepat, Lucknow, Kottayam, Senapati (Manipur), Dharwad, Pune, Nagpur and Ranchi.

The three IIITs set up under the PPP model in 2017, namely institutes in Surat, Bhopal and Bhagalpur, were not mentioned in the 2017 PPP act, nor were the institutes in Kakinada and Bodhjungnagar.  The List of all the 23 IIITs established on 23^rd May, 2018 is given below in the chronological order of their Foundation.

Although each of the above IIIT’s is an autonomous institution yet they are linked to one another through a common admission process i.e The admission to the UG courses is done through a  very competitive Joint Entrance Examination (Mains). This exam is held on the yearly basis usually in the month of April-May to select around 4,000 undergraduate candidates every year from amongst approximately 3,50,000  aspiring candidates to provide admission in various branches of Information Technology.

Besides UG courses these institutes of national importance are providing  Post Graduate and PhD programmes in various course related to IT like course in informatics and library sciences, fields of Design, Computer Sciences, Electronics and Communication and Mechanical Engineering as well as programs in the broad areas of computer, electronics and mechanical engineering etc to name a few.