Indian Institute of Technology - Roorkee is among the foremost of institutes of national importance in higher technological education and in engineering, basic and applied research. Since its establishment, the Institute has played a vital role in providing the technical manpower and know-how to the country and in pursuit of research. The Institute ranks amongst the best technological institutions in the world and has contributed to all sectors of technological development. It has also been considered a trend-setter in the area of education and research in the field of science, technology, and engineering.

The Institute had celebrated its Sesquicentennial in October 1996 and now completed more than 175 years of its existence. It was converted to IIT on September 21, 2001 by an Ordinance issued by the Government of India declared it as the nation’s seventh Indian Institute of Technology, an “Institution of National Importance”.

The Institute offers Bachelor's Degree courses in 10 disciplines of Engineering and Architecture and Postgraduate's Degree in 55 disciplines of Engineering, Applied Science, Architecture and planning. The Institute has facility for doctoral work in all Departments and Research Centres.

The Institute admits students to B.Tech. and B.Arch. courses through the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted at various centres all over India.

How to reach IIT Roorkee

Roorkee is well connected to Delhi by rail and road. It is situated on National Highways 58 and 73 and is on Amritsar-Howrah main rail route.

Some trains which are convenient for travelling between Delhi and Roorkee are New Delhi-Dehradun-New Delhi Shatabdi Express and Dehradun-New Delhi-Dehradun Janshatabdi Express. The nearest airport is located at Jollygrant, Dehradun. However, New Delhi is the preferred airport.

National Highway 58 from New Delhi to the higher reaches of the Himalayas passes via Roorkee. Roorkee is, therefore, well connected to all the major cities in the region by road. There are frequent bus services to this place from the Maharana Pratap Inter State Bus Terminal (Kashmere Gate) Delhi.

By Roadways

Traveling from Delhi, Roorkee is located towards north approximately 170 kilometers. Take the highway NH58, and it passes through Roorkee. The city of Haridwar is located further on the same highway about 29 kilometers from Roorkee.

The main bus depot of Roorkee is located on NH58. Several buses run from various cities in North India.

By Airways

Nearest airport to Roorkee is Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport which has Air India, Spice Jet and Jet Airways services from New Delhi. But most preferable airport nearest from Roorkee is the New Delhi International Airport which is about 180 kilometers away.

By Railways

Easiest way to get to Roorkee is by train. There are several trains serving Roorkee daily from various cities around. The high speed trains Shatabdi and Jan Shatabti also stop at Roorkee on their route Delhi - Dehradun. By train, it takes less than 3 hours and 30 minutes to reach Roorkee from Delhi, so it is the fastest and most economical way of travel.

Incidentally, the first locomotive of India ran on rails in Roorkee in 1846, well before the first passenger rail that ran in Thane.