No plan to rename IIT-Madras as IIT-Chennai

Any such proposal for amending the name of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is not under consideration of the government

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said there is no proposal to rename the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras as IIT Chennai. He said this while replying to a written question in Lok Sabha. This puts an end to speculations that the premier higher education institution would be rechristened, two decades after Madras was renamed as Chennai.

The question asked in the Parliament was: "Whether the Union Government has received any proposal from any educational institution/individual or any organisations to change the name of IIT-Madras into IIT Chennai? If so, the details thereof; and the action taken/being taken by the Union Government on such proposals?"

In response, the Minister said: Any such proposal for amending the name of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is not under consideration of the government.

For the uninitiated, IIT Bombay was established in 1958, IIT Madras in the very next year (1959), Kanpur (1959), and Delhi (1961). Though the names of Bombay and Madras were later changed by the State governments, to Mumbai and C

hennai, respectively, the institutes at these two places retain their original names.

In Chennai, names of Madras University and Madras High Court too remain the same.