BITS Pilani

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a private deemed university in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. BITS Pilani was one of the first six institutes in India to be declared Institution of Eminence. According to 2012 data, BITS Pilani has an acceptance rate (on-campus) of 1.47%, making it one of the most exclusive technical universities in the world.
The institute was established in its present form in 1964. During this period, the institute's transformation from a regional engineering college to a national university was backed by G.D. Birla. The university has expanded its campuses from Pilani to Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai. After expansion to a campus in Dubai, it has become the first international deemed university, spearheading research in science and engineering with four established campuses and fifteen academic departments. Backed by the Aditya Birla Group, the institute secures extramural research funds from industries and various government agencies.
Admissions to on-campus programs are solely merit-based and assessed by the entrance examinations conducted by BITS. Through its highly successful and widespread alumni network spanning globally across varied fields, BITS Pilani has made a significant impact on corporates, academia, research, entrepreneurship, arts and social activism.
Founded in 1929, the Birla Education Trust established an intermediate college, followed by the addition of Science and Pharmacy colleges in 1943 and 1950 respectively. The Birla College of Engineering, offering degree programs in electrical and mechanical engineering was started in 1946. The master's program in electronics was introduced in 1955. In 1964, the Birla Colleges of Science, Engineering and Pharmacy were incorporated to form the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS).
Reacting to early criticism about the project, contemporary advisor Thomas Drew said:
BITS Pilani became a deemed university established under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 by notification No. F.12-23/63.U-2 of 18 June 1964. In its formative years, the Institute tied up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA. It adopted a semester system, modular structure of courses, continuous and internal evaluation, letter grading and the likes. It also created linkages with the industries which yielded structured “Practice Schools” as an integral component of education.
The Institute board provided direction in developing a curriculum, selecting equipment, upgrading the library and recruiting (and training) an Indian faculty. To quicken the pace of reform he convinced C. R. Mitra to be the new director of the institute. Mitra advocated a "practice school" internship program as a requirement for faculty and students. The Practice School Program is still a requirement for students in BITS.
According to American historians Robert Kargon and Stuart Leslie:
Like Berkeley, BITS Pilani has also experienced student activism. BITS Pilani had to be shut down multiple times because of student strikes in 1973, 1980, 1985 and 2017.
In 1999, enrollment expanded from 2,500 to 4,000 and campuses were founded in Dubai (2000) and Goa (2004). Upon invitation by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, BITS Pilani acquired 200 acres (81 ha) of land from the Andhra Pradesh government through the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority for a new constituent campus in 2006. The land is located in Jawaharnagar, Shameerpet Mandal in the Rangareddy district. The BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus opened in 2008; the school also has a virtual university and an extension center in Bangalore. BITS School of Management (BITSoM) was established in January 2021 and offers a 2-year full-time residential MBA. BITSoM has its interim campus in Hiranandani Knowledge Park, Powai, Mumbai while the 63-acre permanent campus is being set up in Kalyan within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. In March 2023, BITS Pilani entered into legal education with the establishment of BITS Law School (BITSLAW) in the Mumbai campus. In February 2024, BITS entered the field of design education by setting up BITS Design School (BITSDES) in the Mumbai campus.
BITS Pilani, India's premier engineering college, has always excelled with a deep commitment to meritocracy. Unlike government-funded institutions, it has a strict no-reservation policy, reserving seats only for students on the basis of merit and competitive ability alone, thereby attracting the nation's best students to its campuses. A historic incident during the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi exemplifies this institutional ethos.
As chronicled by industrialist Sri K.K. Birla, then-chairman of the institute, Mrs. Gandhi’s office persistently pressured him to admit the son of her friend or benefactor. Despite repeated demands from her secretary, who framed the request as an "unavoidable directive," Birla firmly declined, citing the institute’s charter, which explicitly prohibited discretionary admissions. When summoned for a personal meeting, Mrs. Gandhi questioned whether even a single exception could be made. Demonstrating both tact and resolve, Birla proposed amending the charter to allocate five seats for nomination by the Prime Minister. He cautioned, however, that such a provision would inevitably attract hundreds of recommendations, compelling her to reject the majority.
This astute response underscored the impracticality of politicizing admissions while safeguarding BITS Pilani’s principles. Mrs. Gandhi, recognizing the wisdom in Birla’s reasoning, withdrew her request. The episode highlights the institution’s steadfast dedication to academic integrity and the ethical leadership that has kept it renowned as a top-tier institution of learning.
BITS Pilani has a tradition of long-serving chancellors. Its founder, G.D. Birla, was chancellor from the college's inception until his death in 1983. He was followed by his son, Krishna Kumar Birla, who was chancellor until his death in 2008. Currently, Kumar Mangalam Birla is chancellor and Shobhana Bhartia is pro-chancellor.
The first academic head of the institution was J. C. Stracliff (Principal) for a period of 3 years during 1946–1949. V. Lakshminarayan became Principal of Birla Engineering College in 1949 and Director of BITS Pilani in 1964 when it was established (serving until 1969). He was succeeded by the third and fourth academic heads (BITS Pilani Directors) C.R. Mitra (1969–1989) and S. Venkateswaran (1989–2006). L.K. Maheshwari was the fifth academic head, serving as Director as well as Vice Chancellor, the latter terminology denoting the overall head of multiple campuses (each of which now has a Director). The current directors of the campuses are Sudhirkumar Barai, Suman Kundu, Soumyo Mukherji, and Srinivasan Madapusi for Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad, and Dubai campuses, respectively.
In April 2016, Chancellor KM Birla announced that Souvik Bhattacharya of IIT Kharagpur was selected to take over as the new Vice chancellor of BITS Pilani. He took over in June 2016 to become the 6th academic head of the institute. Ranendra N. Saha served as the Acting Vice Chancellor from 13 June 2021 to 30 September 2021 after the expiration of Bhattacharya's term. The latter was re-appointed as the Vice Chancellor from 1 October 2021 for a period of five years. On 10 March 2023, V. Ramgopal Rao took over the Vice Chancellor's office from the outgoing Bhattacharya, becoming the seventh academic head of the institute.
Spread across 328 acres (1,330,000 m), the main campus in Pilani is positioned 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Delhi and 220 kilometres (140 mi) north of Jaipur. The campus has 11,245 square metres (121,040 sq ft) of classrooms and 7,069 square metres (76,090 sq ft) of laboratories.
The Pilani campus has India's first technological museum, the Birla Museum. Built in 1954, it showcases technological achievements. BITS has a 2,535-square-metre (27,290 sq ft) auditorium decorated with paintings by students from the department of art and decoration.
BITS has a Sharda Peeth dedicated to the goddess Saraswati, Sharda Peeth, built by G. D. Birla. The white marble temple is built on a 7-foot (2.1 m)-high foundation, with 70 pillars for support. It covers an area of 25,000 square feet (2,300 m).
The institute has fourteen hostels in total. Each hostel is referred as a "Bhawan", the Sanskrit word for hostel. Twelve of them – Krishna Bhawan, Vishwakarma Bhawan, Rana Pratap Bhawan, Bhagirath Bhawan, Ashok Bhawan, Gandhi Bhawan, Shankar Bhawan, Vyas Bhawan, Ram Bhawan, Budh Bhawan, Malviya Bhawan, CV Raman Bhavan and Srinivasa Ramanujan Bhawan are for male students. Meera Bhawan is the only hostel for female students. The institute also has one more hostel for parents and guests The hostels are named after saints, scientists, and historical and religious figures.
Every two hostels share a mess hall except Meera Bhawan, Srinivasa Ramanujan Bhawan and Sir C V Raman Bhawan which have their own mess halls. All dining areas are student-managed. Students may also eat at a "Redi" (a small kiosk near every hostel), Institute Canteen (IC), the All-Night Canteen (ANC), Food Ministry (FM), and the Student Activity Centre (SAC) cafeteria (TOTT, Mr. Idli, 301 °F, Looters, and Da Cloud Cafe). The ANC is also student-managed. Moreover, there is a small area inside campus called "Connaught" which has many restaurants, cafes, etc. and has shops for general daily needs as well.
In 2010 the institute launched a renewal project, "Vision 2020, Mission 2012," to identify and implement measures establishing BITS Pilani as one of India's top three research-led universities by 2015 and among the leading 25 technical universities in Asia by 2020. As a part of this initiative, Kumar Mangalam Birla visited the Pilani campus on 13 November 2011 with pro-chancellor Shobhana Bhartia and other members of the board of governors. At this meeting, Birla announced a Rs. 600 crore fund for renovation and construction of new academic buildings and student hostels on the Pilani campus. The project was planned for completion in 2014.
BITS Pilani offers four-year integrated first-degree programs in engineering and pharmacy, and integrated Master of Science programs in science and technology. The Dual-Degree program allows students to pursue two degrees, namely a Master's in Science (M.Sc.) and a Bachelor's in Engineering (B.E.) simultaneously for a time duration of five-years. The dual-degree program is part of the first-degree programs and is offered to students on the basis of BITSAT scores.
BITS Pilani offers two-year higher-degree programs in engineering, pharmacy and business administration. The Master of Engineering (M.E.) program is offered to students on the basis of GATE scores and BITS HD exam scores.
Before 2005, admissions were based on the candidates' score in the 12th board examination. BITS had been moderating marks from various school boards since 1982.
Since 2005, admission to first-degree in BITS has been offered on the basis of the student's performance in the all-India entrance examination, the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Admission Test (BITSAT). BITSAT, for which applications are submitted in December, is conducted online in May and June in cities all over India. The exam tests the candidate's knowledge, reasoning and analytical abilities in physics, chemistry, mathematics, English and logical reasoning, and is based on higher secondary curricula in India and abroad. A 2012 news report showed that BITSAT had become more competitive than the IIT-JEE, in terms of the ratio of the number of aspirants to the number of seats available.
Admission to on-campus higher degrees such as Master's in Engineering (M.E.) is done on the basis of GATE scores and BITS HD (Higher Degree) examination scores.
For foreign students, BITS has a separate admission scheme called International Student Admissions (ISA) category. To gauge the merit of these ISA students, BITS accepts the SAT and SAT Subject Tests in chemistry, physics, and Math 2C.
Admission to Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Dubai Campus is based on scores in the 12th standard qualifying exam along with BITSAT. Although the BITS Pilani-Dubai campus was established for the educational requirements of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, admission is open to students of all nationalities.
BITS Pilani also offers online distance learning programmes such as Work Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP) in which students can get a B.Tech., M.Tech., Diploma, as well as Certificate programs while working in the industry.
BITS Pilani collaborates extensively with industries and government organizations, including the DST, ICMR, DBT, ISRO, DRDO and DAE. The institute actively promotes innovation and supports ventures by faculty, students, and alumni through its incubation programs. BITS is a partner in developing the JournalServer open-access digital library, Project IPV6 and the MIT iCampus initiative. BITS Pilani has signed key MoUs with institutions such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and IIT Bombay for joint research and specialized courses. Internationally, BITS Pilani has signed MoUs with the University at Buffalo, Iowa State University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) for dual degree programmes and research initiatives.
Internationally, BITS Pilani was ranked 801-850 band in the QS World University Rankings for 2025 and 171 in Asia. It was ranked 601–800 in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2025, 251–300 in Asia in 2025 and 301–350 among emerging economies.
In India, BITS Pilani was ranked 23 overall in 2024 by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), 19 among universities, 20 in the engineering ranking and 3 in India in the pharmacy ranking. It was ranked 7th among engineering colleges by India Today in 2024 and second among private engineering colleges by Outlook India in 2024.
The Department of Management was ranked 10 among private management schools in India by Outlook India in 2020.
Oasis is the annual cultural festival of the BITS, Pilani. It hosts a variety of events in various categories like dance, drama, literature, comedy, fashion and music.
BOSM (BITS-Pilani Open Sports Meet) is the annual sports competition at the Pilani campus. BITS-Pilani invites colleges throughout India to participate in events including carrom board, hockey, cricket, basketball, football, volleyball, track and field, badminton, tennis, table tennis, squash and weightlifting. Since its 2010 silver jubilee (25th) anniversary, BOSM has invited a team from Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka.
APOGEE (A Professions Oriented Gathering over Educational Experiences) is an international annual technical festival at the Pilani campus. Since its inception in 1983, APOGEE has hosted students and researchers from across the country. The guest lecture series of the fest, Think Again Conclave has received eminent speakers in the past which include A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Richard Stallman, Jimmy Wales, Kailash Satyarthi, Walter Lewin and A. S. Kiran Kumar. Other events include the Paper Presentation Event, which is one of the oldest research paper presentation platforms in the country, and Project Presentation, which exhibits over 550 projects in various fields of science and engineering.
BITS Spark programme was launched in 2012. The programme promotes entrepreneurship courses and workshops, offers mentorship, and provides angel funds.