It was one of the first out of eight Regional Engineering Colleges started during the second five-year plan (1956–1960) in India, where the main focus was development of the public sector and rapid industrialisation.

The foundation stone of the Institute building was laid by the then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 23 April 1961.

The Institute gradually progressed to become a high level education center with steady development of infrastructure as well as academics.

During the Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Minister of Human Resource Development, Murli Manohar Joshi decided to upgrade all "Regional Engineering Colleges" to "National Institutes of Technology" that shall be funded by the Central Government itself.

With this advancement, the World Bank assisted "Technical Education Quality Improvement Program" started in 2003, for the rapid academic and infrastructural growth of the college.

The Government of India in 2007 passed the NIT Act as per which MANIT was declared an Institute of National Importance.

[5] MANIT is spread over 650 acres (260 ha) which makes it one of the largest NITs in India in terms of total campus area.

The entire campus consists of administrative and academic buildings, workshops, library and community centers, residential accommodations for students and staff and other general amenities such as Post Office, a Digital Library, a Bank with ATM, Shopping complex, a School for children, medical care unit, an auditorium with the capacity of 1000 persons and sports complex with vast expand of open area.

Prior to the start of JEE Main, admission to MANIT was through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) until 2013.

Students from different countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE etc.