Central Institute of Classical Tamil

The CICT was formerly known as the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT) and had been functioning at the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, a branch of the Department of Higher Education, Language Bureau, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

In May 2008, the CECT was moved to Chennai and was rechristened as the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT).

The governing body for Classical Tamil Institute (TLPB) was also changed as Aimperumkuzhu (literally "5-membered great team") and Enperayam (literally "8-membered great committee") under two vice-chairmen, V. I. Subramoniam and V. C. Kulandaiswamy, with the chairman for this governing body being M.

The government acquired a land at Perumbakkam and a fund of ₹ 246.547 million was allotted in 2017 to construct a building.

Built at a cost of ₹ 246.5 million on a 16.86-acre land, the four-storied building has a total built-up area of 70,000 square feet.