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The '''Indian Institutes of Technology''' ('''IIT'''s) are a group of autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes of higher education. The IITs are governed by the ''Institutes of Technology Act, 1961'' which has declared them as “institutions of national importance”, and lays down their powers, duties, framework for governance etc.<ref name="IIT act"/> They were created to train scientists and engineers, with the aim of developing a skilled workforce to support the [[economy of India|economic]] and [[culture of India|social]] development of [[India]]. IITs are listed as societies under the [[Indian Societies Registration Act]].
The 1961 act lists seven institutes, which are, in order of establishment, [[Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur|IIT Kharagpur]] in [[Kharagpur]] (1950; as IIT 1951<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/institute/history.php|title=Institute History – Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur|accessdate=22 October 2008|publisher=IIT Kharagpur|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080420181942/http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/institute/history.php |archivedate = 20 April 2008|deadurl=yes}}</ref>), [[Indian Institute of Technology Bombay|IIT Bombay]] in [[Mumbai]] (1958), [[Indian Institute of Technology Madras|IIT Madras]] in [[Chennai]] (1959), [[Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur|IIT Kanpur]] in [[Kanpur]] (1959), [[Indian Institute of Technology Delhi|IIT Delhi]] in New Delhi (1961; as IIT 1963), [[Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati|IIT Guwahati]] in [[Guwahati]] (1994) and [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee|IIT Roorkee]] in [[Roorkee]] (1847; as IIT 2001).
In addition to the seven IITs, [[The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2011]] added nine new institutes to the list. Of these, eight are new institutes, in order of establishment, [[Indian Institute of Technology Ropar|IIT Ropar]] in [[Rupnagar]] (2008), [[Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar|IIT Bhubaneswar]] in [[Bhubaneswar]] (2008), [[Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar|IIT Gandhinagar]] in [[Gandhinagar]] (2008), [[Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad|IIT Hyderabad]] in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] (2008), [[Indian Institute of Technology Patna|IIT Patna]] in [[Patna]] (2008), [[Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan|IIT Rajasthan]] in Rajasthan (2008), [[Indian Institute of Technology Mandi|IIT Mandi]] in [[Mandi, Himachal Pradesh|Mandi]] (2009) and [[Indian Institute of Technology Indore|IIT Indore]] in [[Indore]] (2009).<ref name=AmendmentAct/> These IITs were registered as societies and are in various stages of consolidation and development.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.education.nic.in/tech/tech_if-cit.asp#Indian%20Institutes%20of%20Technology%20%28IITs%29 |title=Technical Education – Centrally Funded Institutions |work=education.nic.in |accessdate=9 May 2011}}</ref> The ninth is Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU), which was a faculty under the administration of [[Banaras Hindu University]] is now named [[Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi]],<ref name=AmendmentAct>{{cite web|url=http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Institute%20of%20Technology%20Bill%202010.pdf|format=PDF|title=The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010}}</ref> abbreviated IIT (BHU) Varanasi.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090908/jsp/nation/story_11464099.jsp |title=The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Sibal clears last hurdle in BHU road to IIT |author=Charu Sudan Kasturi|date=7 September 2009 |work=The Telegraph |location=Kolkota, India |accessdate=9 May 2011}}</ref> The bill was approved by the [[Indian Cabinet]] on 25 February 2011,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.deccanherald.com/content/141106/cabinet-approves-changes-iit-amendment.html |title=Cabinet approves changes in IIT amendment bill |date= 25 February 2011|work=Deccan Herald |accessdate=9 May 2011}}</ref> and passed by the [[Lok Sabha]] on 24 March 2011<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.deccanherald.com/content/148456/ls-passes-bill-provide-iit.html |title=LS passes bill to provide IIT status to 8 institutes, BHU |work=Deccan Herald |date=24 March 2011 |accessdate=9 May 2011}}</ref> and by the [[Rajya Sabha]] on 30 April 2012, making the new IITs capable of granting degrees.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/education/Parliament-passes-IIT-bill/articleshow/12937917.cms |title=Parliament passes IIT bill |work=ThetimesofIndia.com |date=April 30, 2012 |accessdate=30 April 2012}}</ref>
Each IIT is an autonomous university, linked to the others through a common IIT Council, which oversees their administration. They have a common admission process for undergraduate admissions, using the very selective [[Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination]] (IIT-JEE), which in 2011 had an acceptance rate of less than 1 in 50 (485,000 candidates and only 9,618 seats). Undergraduate students will eventually receive a B. Tech. degree in Engineering. The graduate level program that awards M. Tech. degree in engineering is administered by the older IITs (Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati, Roorkee) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. M. Tech. admission decisions are made on the basis of [[Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering]] (GATE). In addition to B. Tech and M. Tech programs IITs also award other graduate degrees such as M.S. in engineering, M.Sc in Math, Physics and Chemistry, MBA, PhD and more. Admission to these programs is through [[Common Admission Test]] (CAT), [[Joint Admission Test to M.Sc.]] (JAM) and Common Entrance Examination for Design (CEED). About 15,500 undergraduate and 12,000 [[graduate student]]s study in the IITs, in addition to research scholars.
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