National Institutes of Technology or popularly known as the NITs, are the central government-owned-public institute for technical education. NITs are under the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
Formed under the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act, 2007, they have been considered colleges at par with IITs for the subsidised technical education and state-of-art infrastructure. Currently, there are 31 NITs in India; all spread at different locations to ensure regional diversity.
Most NITs offer graduate, post-graduate, and doctorate degrees for students in different technical subjects. The NITs are funded by the Government of India. They also aid students in getting placement and jobs in India and prepare them to further their interest in the field of science. Graduation courses from NITs are really popular among students, and the colleges also strive to perform well in extra-curricular, research, sports, etc. and provide infrastructure for the same.
In 2020, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (by the Ministry of Education, Government of India to rank higher educational institutions) ranked 24 NITs in the top 200 engineering colleges of India. The ex-officio visitor of all the NITs in India is the President of India.