Countries That Helped India In Setting Up IIT

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INDIAN INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY

It is the first of the IITs to be established and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.
In 2019 it was awarded the status of Institute of
(Institutes of Eminence is a recognition scheme for higher education institutes in India, set by the University Grants Commission in 2017.)

The first IIT at Kharagpur in West Bengal established in 1951 drew faculty members from the US, UK, Ireland, France, USSR, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Poland.
IIT BOMBAY – USSR
For the second IIT at Bombay, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) arranged the donation of equipment and technical expertise from the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries in 1956

According to the IIT-B website: “The institute received substantial assistance in the form of equipment and expert services from the USSR through the UNESCO from 1956 to 1973. It received 59 experts and 14 technicians from several reputed institutions in the The UNESCO also offered fellowships, numbering 27, for training Indian faculty members in the USSR. Under the bilateral agreement of 1965, the Government of USSR provided additional assistance to supplement the Aid Programme already received by the institute through UNESCO.”

The third IIT was set up in 1959 after the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) offered assistance to set up the institute during Prime Minister Nehru’s visit to the country in 1956.
Subsequently, an Indo-German agreement was signed at Bonn in 1959.

According to the IIT-M website, “The first Indo-German Agreement provided for the services of German professors and 5 foremen, training facilities for 20 Indian faculty members and the supply of scientific and technical equipment for the establishment of the Central Workshop and 20 laboratories at IIT ”

“In 1976, an agreement was signed with the Government of France for collaboration and assistance to the Aeronautics Department. Five years later, the fifth Indo-German agreement was signed with the principal objectives of continuation of inter-university projects, strengthening of the Micro Processor Laboratory, Low Temperature Laboratory and High Polymer Laboratory and continuation of exchange visits.”

Established in 1959, this IIT was developed under a collaboration with American researchers as part of the Kanpur Indo-American Programme.
Under the guidance of economist John Kenneth Galbraith, IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to offer Computer science education.
The earliest computer courses were started at IIT Kanpur in August 1963 on an IBM 1620 system.

The first offer of help came from USSR who agreed to collaborate in the establishment of an Institute through UNESCO at Bombay.This was followed by the Institutes of Technology at Madras, Kanpur and Delhi with collaborations with West Germany, United States and UK
This was the fifth IIT, established in 1961.
According to the institute’s website: “The Government of India negotiated with the British Government for collaboration in setting up an Institute of Technology at Delhi.The British Government agreed in principle to such a collaboration, but were inclined initially to start in a modest way. It was therefore agreed that a College of Engineering & Technology should be established at Delhi with their assistance.”