[3][4][5] The origins of TERI lie in Mithapur, a remote town in Gujarat, where a TATA engineer, Darbari Seth, was concerned about the enormous quantities of energy his factory spent on desalination.

[7] On the invitation of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, TERI was registered in Delhi in 1974 as the Tata Energy Research Institute.

In 1993, the organization set up its permanent base in Darbari Seth Block, named after its founder, in the India Habitat Centre complex located at Lodi Road, New Delhi.

[11] TERI established a research base in Africa to provide technical assistance as well as to facilitate exchange of knowledge amongst the communities in various African states.

[12] In 2016–17, TERI set up the world's biggest facility for Mycorrhiza production in Gual Pahari, Gurugram, Haryana.