IIT Delhi began as the College of Engineering and Technology, Delhi, set up with British government help; Prince Philip laid its foundation stone at Hauz Khas on 27 January 1959, it was registered as a society in 1960 and first admitted students in 1961, according to its about page. The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 1963 declared it an institution of national importance and renamed it Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; it was then given deemed university status.
It describes itself as an autonomous statutory organisation governed by a Board of Governors, with a Senate responsible for academic policy. Its departments page lists 16 departments alongside centres and schools, and the home page links to IITD Abu Dhabi. Its NIRF 2026 data submission reported 5,002 undergraduate, 2,329 postgraduate and 3,564 PhD students for 2024-25. The about page says over 60,000 people have graduated, nearly 5,070 of them with PhDs.