The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a group of educational institutes in India set up by the government to produce high quality scientists, engineers and technologists. 

Designated as institutes of national importance, the IITs were set up to boost industrial development and manufacturing by creating an elite pool of engineering talent within the country.

Governed by the IIT Act of 1961, the IITs are autonomous institutes with their own boards of directors. IIT Kharagpur was the first institute to be set up in 1951, followed by IIT Bombay in 1958, IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur in 1959, IIT Delhi in 1961, IIT Guwahati in 1994 and IIT Roorkee in 2001. In 2011, the IIT Act was amended to add more institutes to the list.

As of the 2013 academic year, admissions to these institutes take place through a joint entrance examination (IIT-JEE), which will be conducted in two stages – ‘IIT-JEE Main’ and ‘IIT-JEE Advanced’ – with candidates getting filtered out at each stage.

Many IITs, in collaboration with external entities, have established incubation centers to encourage entrepreneurship within the country including:

• ‘Entrepreneurship Cell’  at IIT Kharagpur
• ‘C-TIDES’ and ‘TeNeT’ at IIT Madras 
• ‘Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’ at IIT Bombay 
• ‘SIDBI Innovation and Incubation Center’ ay IIT Kanpur 
• ‘Entrepreneurial Development Cell’ at IIT Guwahati, IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee.