The late Union Human Resources Development Minister S. R. Bommai had moved the proposal to the Centre seeking an IIT in Dharwad in the 1990s. In 1998, a committee headed by former ISRO chairman and space scientist Udupi Ramachandra Rao submitted its report recommending an IIT in Hubballi-Dharwad.[1][8] In the 2015-16 union budget, an IIT was sanctioned for Karnataka state and the state government suggested three locations.