It is one of the five new IITs proposed in the 2014 Union budget of India.[2] The campus was inaugurated on 3 August 2015 at the temporary campus site located inside the Ahalia Integrated Campus, Palakkad.[3][4] In February 2019, academic activities commenced in the Nila campus in Kanjikode.[5] The institute has 94 faculty, 978 students, and 63 non-teaching staffs.[6]