[8] A committee formed by the Government of India recommended the establishment of four higher institutes of technology to set the direction for the development of technical education in the country in 1946.

[8] Since its establishment in Powai, the institute has expanded to include more than 584 major buildings, with a combined area of more than 2.2 square kilometers.

It also has a comprehensive graduate program offering doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

[9] IIT Bombay was the second Indian Institute of Technology to be established in 1958 with assistance from UNESCO and with funds endowed by the Soviet Union.

[10] UNESCO agreed to provide equipment whilst technical experts mainly came from the Soviet Union.

The proposed site for the institute was Powai with an area of 550 acres (2.2 km2) which the Bombay State Government rendered.

While construction was being completed, the first academic session of the institute opened on 25 July 1958, in its temporary home at the Synthetic and Art Silk Mills Research Association (SASMIRA) building in Worli with 100 students.

[citation needed] One of the main objectives of establishing the institute was to develop facilities for studies in a variety of specialized engineering and technological sciences.

The need for establishing adequate facilities for postgraduate studies and research was kept uppermost in mind in the founding years.

Due to its proximity to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the campus has significant green cover and is mostly untouched by the pollution of the rest of the city.

The proximity of the campus to the national park has also led to occasional sightings of leopards and mugger crocodiles along the banks of the Powai lake.

[18] The institute has two swimming pools; football, hockey and cricket grounds; and tennis, basketball, squash and volleyball courts.

[21] Besides this, there are four persons having specialized knowledge or practical experience in respect of education, engineering or science nominated by the council.

Additionally, one technologist or industrialist of repute is nominated by the government of each of the States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

[citation needed] The Institute Advisory Council is a non-statutory body comprising eminent personalities from business, industry and academia, which reviews and makes suggestions on long-term policies and short-term goals.

The graduate students are selected through Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) conducted by IIT's and IISc on behalf of MHRD [Ministry of Human Resource Development].

[30] In April 2015, IIT Bombay launched the first U.S.-India joint EMBA program alongside Washington University in St.

[49] Faculty members from IIT Bombay undertake industry-sponsored research and consultancy projects that are made available through the institute.

Research groups like VLSI Design, CAD/CAM also have computing facilities which are accessible to other departments for development activities.

Experimental facilities set up by various departments include laboratories for robotics, biotechnology, microelectronics, microprocessor applications, telematics, remote sensing, low-temperature physics, and aerodynamics.

[52] In 2024 India's first Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager was proposed by PQuest Lab of IIT Bombay, in an alliance with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

is Asia's largest business model competition conducted by E-Cell, IITB and receives participation from more than 12,500 startups.

[62] The most attractive feature of this 4-day event is the influential personalities who have graced the festival like R D Burman, Aamir Khan, Sir Mark Tully, Sachin Tendulkar, Porcupine Tree,[63] Simple Plan,[64] Mike Portnoy[65] and many more.

[69][70] The institute has an active NCC unit, the 2 Maharashtra Engineer Regiment[71] which is an attachment of the Bombay Sappers.

IIT Bombay's Diamond Jubilee was held in 2018, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending as the chief guest of the convocation function.