The Institution of Engineers (India) was conceived after the Report of the Industrial Commission of 1916-18, highlighted the status of the engineering discipline. The Chairman of the Commission, Sir Thomas Holland was the then Commerce Member of the Government of India. Subsequently, in 1919, the Indian Society was proposed, which was then renamed, The Institution of Engineers (India). References
were made to various
similar professional institutions in England and other places before setting up The Institution of Engineers (India). The Institution was granted the Royal Charter in 1935, which emphasized on promotion and advancement of Science, Practice and Business of Engineering in all its branches in India. The Royal Charter also offered the
possibility of expanding the sphere of its activities in areas of importance and relevance to India. The Royal Charter was granted at a time when India’s Freedom Movement had taken deeper roots and the founding fathers of the country were planning in terms of socioeconomic development and preparing the blue print for India’s national development. It was in that background, the Charter was sanctioned to the Institution by the British Government, which on one hand was backed up by the British Rulers’ thinking on domination on the country, and on the other the need to
buildup an infrastructure for economic development. India’s priorities have changed since then. India gained freedom and the economic reforms of 1990s have made India a global economic player. The needs in terms of technical education, skills and operational
logistics have changed. IEI as the leading professional engineers’ body has to honour the basic principles enshrined in the Royal Charter and has also to respond in the real time to the rising national expectations.
