National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur,earlier known as Regional Institute of Technology was established on 15th August 1960 as a joint venture of Government of India and the Government of Bihar in the chain of REC's (Regional Engineering College) in India with the aim to generate technical graduates of highest standards who could provide technological leadership to the region. It was among the first eight Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) established as part of the Second Five-Year Plan (1956 - 1961). This was the only REC in the country which was named as RIT (Regional Institute of Technology). Therefore RIT Jamshedpur was actually the REC of undivided Bihar & Jharkhand. The foundation stone of RIT (REC) Jamshedpur was laid by Dr. Srikrishna Sinha, the then chief minister of Bihar , with the aim of nurturing talent and setting high standards of education and excellence. On 27th December 2002, in the line of all other RECs of India, RIT Jamshedpur (may be read as REC Jamshedpur too) was converted to National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur with the status of a Deemed University as per the decision of Govt. of India. The Institute is fully funded and governed by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India since 1st April, 2003. On 15 August 2007, NIT Jamshedpur was given the status of the Institute of National Importance through an Act of the Parliament known as the NIT Act.