National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur was originally founded as Regional Institute of Technology in 1960 by Dr. Srikrishna Sinha, the then chief minister of Bihar with the aim of nurturing talent and setting high standards of education and excellence. Having been a freedom fighter himself, he chose the auspicious day of 15th August, 1960 to lay the foundation stone. Later upgraded to National Institute of Technology on 27th December, 2002, with the status of a Deemed University, it is now totally under the control of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, New Delhi since 1st April, 2003.

The Institute has several departments in various disciplines of engineering and the pure sciences, with nearly 100 laboratories organized on a unique pattern of functioning.