NIT Calicut: a Regional Engineering College of 1961 that became an NIT in 2002, an institution of national importance under the NIT Act 2007

Background

National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC) is an institution of national importance set up by an Act of Parliament, the National Institute of Technology Act 2007, and is fully funded by the Government of India.
Originally established in 1961 as a Regional Engineering College (REC), it was transformed into a National Institute of Technology in 2002.
Its mandate is to provide higher technical education and conduct research in the various branches of Engineering, Science, Technology and Management.
The campus lies at the foothills of the Western Ghats, about 22 kilometres north-east of Calicut city in Kerala.
It stretches over a length of about 1.5 kilometres along the Calicut-Mukkam road, over an area of approximately 120 hectares.
The institute page notes that Calicut, also known as Kozhikode, found a place in world history with the discovery of a sea route to India in 1498 by the Portuguese navigator Vasco Da Gama.