In 1951, the Government of India established the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur to impart engineering and technological education to young Indian brains. It is an autonomous institute of higher education related to engineering and technology. IIT Kharagpur is one of the first seven IITs to be established in India and is regarded as an institute of National Importance by the Government of India. Amongst all the IITs, IIT Kharagpur has the largest campus, maximum number of departments and the highest student enrolment.

Indian academicians Humayun Kabir and Jogendra Singh with the help of the then Chief Minister of West Bengal B.C. Roy formed a committee in 1946 to consider the creation of Higher Technical Institutions for India` technical advancements. Accordingly, a twenty two-member committee headed by Nalini Ranjan Sarkar was formed. The Sarkar committee recommended that the Higher Technical Institutions to be established in various parts of the country along the format of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In May 1950, the first Indian Institute of Technology was established in Esplanade East, Calcutta and was named `Eastern Higher Technical Institute`. However it was shifted to its permanent campus at Hijli, Kharagpur in September the same year. The name ` Indian Institute of Technology` was adopted before the formal inauguration of the institute. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad did the formal inauguration of the institute on 18 August 1951.

The institute is located 120 kilometres west of Kolkata and the campus is five kilometers from the Kharagpur Railway station. Other than the institute main building, the campus has The Jnan Ghosh Stadium and Tata Sports Complex which hosts` large scale sports competitions. The Tagore Open air Theatre hosts` cultural programmes. Other than this, there is the spacious Science and Technology Entrepreneurs` Park, which provides infrastructural assistance to alumni who want to become entrepreneurs but lack the infrastructure to start it. The institute has nineteen academic departments, eight multidisciplinary schools and thirteen centers of excellence along with laboratories and research facility centers. The Central library of the institute is the biggest technical library of Asia.

IIT Kharagpur offers three kinds of degrees in its undergraduate programmes. It includes Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) and Bachelor of Science. It offers postgraduate degrees in technology (M.Tech) management (MBA) and science (M.Sc). Besides this, some specialized postgraduate programmes include Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology (PGDIT), Master in Medical Science and Technology (MMST), Master of City Planning (MCP), Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law (PGDIPL), and Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Operation & Management (PGDMOM). It offers the Ph.D degree as a part of its doctoral education programme.

The campus life of IIT Kharagpur is exciting. Students have to stay in hostels as a part of their study and participate in various events. The four broad categories of events are Sports, Social and Cultural activities, and Technology and Hall affairs. The institute also organizes techno- management festival known as Kshitij. The annual robotics competition Robotix is organized during Kshitij. The cultural festival, Spring Fest is held January, which includes cultural activities along with performances by famous singers and performers. Illumination and Rangoli festivals are two other popular and exclusive events of IIT Kharagpur.

The institute has a distinguished alumni base who has left their marks in their activities in India and abroad.