Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (BIT Mesra) is an autonomous engineering and technology oriented institute of higher education located at Mesra, near Ranchi, in the state of Jharkhand, India. Established in 1955 by the industrialist B. M. Birla, the institute is one of the older technical institutions in eastern India and has grown into a multi-campus university offering programmes in engineering, architecture, sciences, pharmacy, and management.
| Name | Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra |
|---|---|
| Common abbreviation | BIT Mesra |
| Type | Autonomous institute (deemed university) |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Founder | B. M. Birla |
| Location | Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India |
| Focus | Engineering, technology, architecture, sciences, management, pharmacy |
The institute was founded by B. M. Birla, of the Birla family of industrialists, with the aim of providing technical education in independent India. It is administered by the Birla Education Trust. In 1986, BIT Mesra was granted the status of a deemed university by the Government of India under the University Grants Commission Act, which allowed it to award its own degrees.
The main campus at Mesra lies about 15 kilometres from the centre of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. The campus is residential, with academic departments, hostels, staff housing, and supporting facilities spread across a wooded site.
BIT Mesra offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes. Its undergraduate engineering programmes traditionally cover disciplines such as civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics, electronics and communication, computer science, chemical, production, biotechnology, and information technology engineering. The institute also runs programmes in architecture, pharmacy, applied sciences, and management.
Admission to undergraduate engineering programmes is conducted through the national Joint Entrance Examination (Main), while postgraduate technical admissions use the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) along with the institute's own processes. Management programmes admit candidates through national-level tests.
In addition to the main campus at Mesra, the institute operates off-campus centres in several Indian cities. These have included centres at Patna, Jaipur, Noida, Lalpur (Ranchi), and Deoghar, offering selected programmes in engineering, computer applications, and management.
BIT Mesra is regarded as one of the prominent technical institutions in eastern India and has contributed alumni to industry, academia, research organisations, and entrepreneurship. Its early establishment, before the formation of Jharkhand as a separate state in 2000, made it a notable centre of higher technical education in the Chota Nagpur region.