IIT Dharwad


The Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad is an autonomous engineering and technology institute in Dharwad, Karnataka, India. IIT Dharwad started functioning from July 2016 in a temporary campus, previously of the Water and Land Management Institute in Belur Industrial Area, on the outskirts of Dharwad city. It was formally inaugurated on 28 August 2016. IIT Dharwad's permanent campus is situated at Chikkamalligawad, Dharwad, Karnataka. The campus has been fully operational since March 2023, when it was inaugurated and dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For the academic year 2016–2017, the institute offered B.Tech courses in three branches, namely. Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering. The year 2021 saw the introduction of an additional branch, Engineering physics. As of 2022, the institute expanded to provide four additional courses of study, namely Chemical and Biochemical engineering, Mathematics and Computing, Civil and Infrastructure engineering, and Interdisciplinary Sciences.
As part of the mentorship plan, IIT Bombay is the mentor institute for IIT Dharwad. The MoE has set up an IIT monitoring cell at IIT Bombay. The committee members were designated as officials on special duty to supervise the process of setting up IIT Dharwad.

History

The late Union Human Resources Development Minister S. R. Bommai had moved the proposal to the Centre seeking an IIT in Dharwad in the 1990s. In 1998, a committee headed by former ISRO chairman and space scientist Udupi Ramachandra Rao submitted its report recommending an IIT in Hubballi-Dharwad. Union finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the 2015-16 union budget, sanctioned a budget for IIT for Karnataka state and the state government suggested three locations. The short-listed cities were Dharwad, Mysuru, and Raichur.

Campus

IIT Dharwad initially functioned out of the campus of the Water and Land Management Institute in Dharwad near the Karnataka High Court Bench. A permanent campus was set up at Chikkamaligawad village.
Around 500 acres belonging to KIADB near Mummigatti on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway off Dharwad was identified for the IIT campus, but that deal was cancelled due to legal hurdles.
The permanent campus, at Chikkamalligawad, of the IIT Dharwad was inaugurated on 12 March 2023 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was the first green and smart IIT in India.
Dharwad city also houses other educational institutions like:
There is an airport at Gokul Road, Hubballi, the twin city of Dharwad. The airport has air services connecting to:
There is a railway station at Dharwad through which trains from Bengaluru to Goa run. Hubballi Junction is the major railway junction which has train connections to:
among others. Also, Hubballi city is the headquarters of the South Western Railway Zone of the Indian Railways.

Organisation and administration

Departments, centers, and schools

Nearly 60 seats each in the streams of BTech in:
are available at the institute. Classes began on 15 July 2016, along with the other IITs across the country.
  • A new B.Tech programme in Engineering Physics with ~15 seats has been started in the Autumn 2021 Semester.
  • As of 2022, the institute expanded to provide four additional courses of study, namely:
  • * Chemical and Biochemical engineering,
  • * Mathematics and Computing,
  • * Civil and Infrastructure engineering and
  • * Interdisciplinary Sciences.
The student intake as of 2022 has increased to 310 including supernumerary.
In January 2022, IIT Dharwad established the Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy in partnership with Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Honeywell.

Academics

Programmes

The institute conducts educational programs leading to the degrees of:
DegreeSpecialization
Bachelor of Technology Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Chemical and Biochemical engineering, Mathematics and Computing, Civil and Infrastructure engineering, and Interdisciplinary Sciences.
Master of Science Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Ph.D.Bio Sciences and Bio Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics
Master of Technology Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering

Ranking

IIT Dharwad is ranked 77 among the engineering colleges of India by National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2025.

Student life

Cultural and non-academic activities

IIT Dharwad has many student clubs like:
  • Open Student Society
  • Astronomy Club
  • Photography Club
  • Robotics Club
  • Music Club
  • CodeChef has a campus community called 'AvadaCodavra'.
IITDH also organises its own intra-IIT cultural, technical and sports meets, which are conducted annually. These ofter garner participants from various branches and batches, and even other colleges.

Awards