Indian Institute of Technology Madras (abbreviated IIT Madras or IITM) is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.[4] Founded in 1959 with technical and financial assistance from the former government of West Germany, it was the third IIT that was established by the Government of India.[5][6] IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row (2016–2019)[7][8] by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.[9]
IIT Madras is a residential institute that occupies a 2.5-square-kilometre (0.97 sq mi) campus that was formerly part of the adjoining Guindy National Park. The institute has nearly 600 faculty, 10,000 students and 1,250 administrative and supporting staff.[10] Growing ever since it obtained its charter from the Indian Parliament in 1961, much of the campus is a protected forest, carved out of the Guindy National Park, home to large numbers of chital (spotted deer), black buck, bonnet macaque, and other rare wildlife. A natural lake, deepened in 1988 and 2003, drains most of its rainwater.
History
In 1956, the West German Government offered technical assistance for establishing an institute of higher education in engineering in India. The first Indo-German agreement was signed in Bonn, West Germany in 1959 for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras. IIT Madras was started with technical, academic and financial assistance from the Government of West Germany and was at the time the largest educational project sponsored by the West German Government outside their country. This has led to several collaborative research efforts with universities and institutions in Germany over the years.[11] Although official support from the German government has ended, several research efforts involving the DAAD programme and Humboldt Fellowships still exist.
The institute was inaugurated in 1959, by the then Union Minister for Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs. The first batch had an overall strength of 120 students from across India.[12] In 1961, the IITs were declared to be Institutes of National Importance. The first convocation ceremony was held on 11 July 1964, with Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, then the President of India, delivering the convocation address and awarding the degrees to the inaugural batch of students.[13] The institute got its first women students in the BTech batch of 1966.[14] IIT Madras celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2009, and its Diamond Jubilee in 2019.[15]
Campus
The main entrance of IIT Madras is on Sardar Patel Road, flanked by the residential districts of Adyar and Velachery. The campus is close to the Raj Bhavan, the official seat of the Governor of Tamil Nadu. Other entrances are located in Velachery (near Anna Garden MTC bus stop, Velachery Main Road), Gandhi Road (known as Krishna Hostel gate or Toll Gate, Currently closed) and Taramani gate (close to Ascendas Tech Park).
The campus is located 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Chennai Airport, 12 km (7.5 mi) from the Chennai Central Railway station, and is well connected by city buses. Kasturba Nagar is the nearest station on the Chennai MRTS line.
Two parallel roads, Bonn Avenue and Delhi Avenue, cut through the faculty residential area, before they meet at the Gajendra Circle, near the Administrative Block. Buses regularly ply between the Main Gate, Gajendra Circle, the Academic Zone, and the Hostel Zone.
