Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur (VNIT Nagpur) is a public technical university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It is one of the thirty-one National Institutes of Technology (NITs) established by the Government of India and functions as an Institute of National Importance under the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007. The institute is named in honour of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, the noted Indian engineer and statesman.
| Name | Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur |
|---|---|
| Former name | Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering (VRCE) |
| Type | Public technical university |
| Status | Institute of National Importance |
| Location | Nagpur, Maharashtra, India |
| Affiliation | Ministry of Education, Government of India |
| Named after | Sir M. Visvesvaraya |
The institute was originally founded as Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering (VRCE) in 1960, as one of the regional engineering colleges (RECs) set up jointly by the Government of India and the Government of Maharashtra. RECs were conceived as centres of higher technical education that admitted students from across India, with a portion of seats reserved for the host state.
In 2002, VRCE was upgraded to the status of a National Institute of Technology and renamed Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, becoming a deemed university under the central government. With the enactment of the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007, VNIT Nagpur was formally designated an Institute of National Importance, granting it full autonomy in academic and administrative matters.
The campus is situated in the south-western part of Nagpur, along the South Ambazari Road, adjacent to Ambazari Lake. The campus houses academic departments, research centres, hostels, staff quarters, and sports facilities, and is one of the larger technical campuses in central India.
VNIT offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes in engineering, architecture, planning, sciences, humanities, and management. Undergraduate Bachelor of Technology and Bachelor of Architecture admissions are conducted through the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and the Centralised Seat Allocation process administered by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA). Postgraduate admissions in engineering are based on the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).
Academic departments at the institute include Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Architecture and Planning, and departments of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Management Studies.
VNIT Nagpur is regarded as one of the principal engineering institutions in central India and is consistently ranked among the leading NITs in national engineering rankings. Its alumni have contributed to academia, public-sector engineering organisations, the private industry, and entrepreneurship in India and abroad.