The campus has been fully operational since March 2023, when it was inaugurated and dedicated to the nation by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

[9][10] The late Union Human Resources Development Minister S. R. Bommai had moved the proposal to the Centre seeking an IIT in Dharwad in the 1990s.

In 1998, a committee headed by former ISRO chairman and space scientist Udupi Ramachandra Rao submitted its report recommending an IIT in Hubballi-Dharwad.

Around 500 acres belonging to KIADB near Mummigatti on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway off Dharwad was identified for the IIT campus, but that deal was cancelled due to legal hurdles.

The airport has air services connecting to: There is a railway station at Dharwad through which trains from Bengaluru to Goa run.

[23] IIT Dharwad has many student clubs like: IITDH also organises its own intra-IIT cultural, technical and sports meets, which are conducted annually.