Research Institutes in India List: Quick Answer
This page lists 30 major research institutes in India, with field, location, parent body and founding year for each, verified as of 7 November 2026. The list covers the six big research families exams ask about again and again: CSIR (7), ICAR (4), ICMR (3), DRDO (2), DAE (3) and ISRO (3), plus 8 famous independent institutes such as IISc, ISI Kolkata and the Bose Institute. The oldest institute in the list is the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), founded in 1889, and the newest is the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), set up in 1996.
🔥 Key Exam Takeaway: Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru have 4 institutes each in this list; New Delhi and Mumbai have 3 each; Lucknow has 2. CSIR runs 37 national laboratories.
Latest Changes in 2026
There has been no major change to this list in 2026 — no new national research institute was created, as of 7 November 2026. One name change is worth knowing: the ICMR institute in Kolkata that exams still call NICED now appears on the ICMR website as the National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (ICMR-NIRBI). It is the same institute, founded in 1962 as the Cholera Research Centre and renamed NICED in 1979 — so NICED, Kolkata is still a correct answer. The CSIR network also stays at 37 national laboratories, per CSIR's own profile of July 2026.
Complete List of 30 Research Institutes in India
The table is grouped by parent body. The year shown is the founding year in the institute's original form.
| Institute | Field | Location (City, State) | Parent body | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Physical Laboratory (NPL) | Measurement standards, physics | New Delhi, Delhi | CSIR | 1947 |
| Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) | Drug research | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | CSIR | 1951 |
| Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) | Food science and technology | Mysuru, Karnataka | CSIR | 1950 |
| National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) | Chemistry and chemical engineering | Pune, Maharashtra | CSIR | 1950 |
| National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) | Oceanography | Dona Paula, Goa | CSIR | 1966 |
| Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) | Medicinal and aromatic plants | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | CSIR | 1959 |
| Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) | Cellular and molecular biology | Hyderabad, Telangana | CSIR | 1977 |
| Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) | Agricultural research | New Delhi, Delhi | ICAR | 1905 |
| Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) | Veterinary research | Izatnagar (Bareilly), Uttar Pradesh | ICAR | 1889 |
| National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) | Dairy research | Karnal, Haryana | ICAR | 1923 |
| Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE) | Fisheries education and research | Mumbai, Maharashtra | ICAR | 1961 |
| National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) | Nutrition research | Hyderabad, Telangana | ICMR | 1918 |
| National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED, now NIRBI) | Cholera and enteric diseases | Kolkata, West Bengal | ICMR | 1962 |
| National Institute of Virology (NIV) | Virology | Pune, Maharashtra | ICMR | 1952 |
| Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) | Missile systems | Hyderabad, Telangana | DRDO | 1961 |
| Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) | Aero gas turbines | Bengaluru, Karnataka | DRDO | 1959 |
| Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) | Nuclear science and technology | Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra | DAE | 1954 |
| Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) | Fundamental sciences | Mumbai, Maharashtra | DAE | 1945 |
| Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) | Nuclear and biophysical sciences | Kolkata, West Bengal | DAE | 1949 |
| Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) | Launch vehicles and rockets | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala | ISRO | 1962 |
| Space Applications Centre (SAC) | Space applications, remote sensing | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | ISRO | 1972 |
| U. R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) | Satellite design and development | Bengaluru, Karnataka | ISRO | 1972 |
| Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) | Statistics and mathematics | Kolkata, West Bengal | Ministry of Statistics (autonomous) | 1931 |
| Indian Institute of Science (IISc) | Science and engineering research | Bengaluru, Karnataka | Autonomous (Ministry of Education) | 1909 |
| National Institute of Immunology (NII) | Immunology | New Delhi, Delhi | DBT | 1981 |
| Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) | DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics | Hyderabad, Telangana | DBT | 1996 |
| Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) | Life sciences | Pune, Maharashtra | DST | 1946 |
| Bose Institute | Physics and biology | Kolkata, West Bengal | DST | 1917 |
| Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) | Astronomy and astrophysics | Pune, Maharashtra | UGC | 1988 |
| Raman Research Institute (RRI) | Physics and astronomy | Bengaluru, Karnataka | DST | 1948 |
Records and Firsts
The oldest institute in this list is IVRI, founded in 1889 as the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory in Pune. It moved to Mukteswar in 1893 and its main campus came up at Izatnagar, near Bareilly, in 1913. India's oldest research institution overall is older still: the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata, founded in 1876, where C. V. Raman did the work that won him the Nobel Prize. It is not in the table because it is a learned society rather than a government laboratory.
The biggest research family in this list is CSIR (7 institutes). The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research was set up on 26 September 1942 and today runs 37 national laboratories across the country. Its first laboratory was NPL, New Delhi, whose foundation stone was laid on 4 January 1947. CSIR's own July 2026 profile still gives the figure as 37, so do not use the older figure of 38 that appears on some websites. Another big network is DRDO, with about 41 laboratories and 5 DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories, formed on 1 January 1958. ICAR, the farm-research council, was set up in 1929. ICMR traces its roots to the Indian Research Fund Association of 1911 and took its present name in 1949. ISRO, the youngest of the big families, was formed on 15 August 1969.
Two institutes in the list are named after the scientists who founded them. The Bose Institute (1917) was founded by Jagadish Chandra Bose in Kolkata, and the Raman Research Institute (1948) was founded by C. V. Raman in Bengaluru. The Indian Statistical Institute (1931) was founded by P. C. Mahalanobis, the architect of the Second Five Year Plan, and was declared an institute of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1959. The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (1949) is named after Meghnad Saha.
The newest institute, CDFD (1996), grew out of CCMB's work: CCMB developed India's DNA fingerprinting technology, and CDFD was created in Hyderabad to apply it to criminal cases and genetic-disease diagnosis.
Institutes by Parent Body
CSIR — 7 institutes. CSIR is the biggest family in the list and the one exams test most. Remember it as two in Lucknow (CDRI for drugs, CIMAP for medicinal plants), two from 1950 (CFTRI in Mysuru for food, NCL in Pune for chemistry), plus NPL in New Delhi for measurement standards, NIO in Goa for oceans and CCMB in Hyderabad for molecular biology. CSIR comes under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Prime Minister is its ex-officio President.
ICAR — 4 institutes. These are the four national institutes of farm research, and all four are deemed universities: IARI (New Delhi, crops), IVRI (Izatnagar, animals), NDRI (Karnal, dairy) and CIFE (Mumbai, fisheries). IARI began at Pusa in Bihar in 1905 and moved to Delhi in 1936 after the 1934 earthquake destroyed its campus — that is why it is still popularly called the Pusa Institute.
ICMR — 3 institutes. NIN in Hyderabad is the oldest ICMR institute in the list: it began in 1918 as a one-room Beri-Beri Enquiry Unit at Coonoor, moved to Hyderabad in 1958 and took the name NIN in 1969. NIV in Pune began in 1952 as the Virus Research Centre and took its present name in 1978. NICED in Kolkata began as the Cholera Research Centre in 1962.
DRDO — 2 institutes. DRDL in Hyderabad builds missiles — Agni, Prithvi, Akash and Nag all passed through it — and GTRE in Bengaluru builds aero gas turbines, including the Kaveri engine for fighter aircraft. GTRE began in Kanpur in 1959 and moved to Bengaluru in 1961; DRDL began in Delhi in June 1961 and moved to Hyderabad in 1962. The year of the move is the trap — the founding year stays 1959 and 1961.
DAE — 3 institutes. BARC at Trombay, Mumbai, began in January 1954 as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, and was renamed after Homi Bhabha in 1967. TIFR, also in Mumbai, was founded by Bhabha himself in 1945, nine years before BARC — so TIFR is older than BARC, which surprises many students. SINP in Kolkata was founded by Meghnad Saha in 1949.
ISRO — 3 institutes. The space family splits neatly by job: VSSC in Thiruvananthapuram builds rockets, URSC in Bengaluru builds satellites, and SAC in Ahmedabad builds the payloads and applications. VSSC began as the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in 1962 and took its present name in 1972. SAC and URSC were both set up in 1972, the year ISRO came under the newly created Department of Space. Do not confuse ISRO headquarters (Bengaluru) with VSSC (Thiruvananthapuram).
Independent institutes — 8. ISI Kolkata (1931) is under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. IISc Bengaluru (1909) was created by a vesting order on 27 May 1909 with Jamsetji Tata's endowment and Mysore's land, and took its first students in 1911. NII New Delhi (1981) and CDFD Hyderabad (1996) are under the Department of Biotechnology. ARI Pune (1946), Bose Institute Kolkata (1917) and RRI Bengaluru (1948) are under the Department of Science and Technology. IUCAA Pune (1988) was set up by the University Grants Commission, with Jayant Narlikar as its founding director.
Common Mistakes
CFTRI vs DFRL. Both do food research and both are in Mysuru — but CFTRI belongs to CSIR and DFRL (Defence Food Research Laboratory) belongs to DRDO. If the question names CSIR, the answer is CFTRI; if it names DRDO, it is DFRL.
NIO vs NIOT. The National Institute of Oceanography is in Goa (Dona Paula) and belongs to CSIR. The National Institute of Ocean Technology is in Chennai and belongs to the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
NIN vs NII. NIN is the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad (ICMR, 1918). NII is the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi (DBT, 1981). Nutrition is Hyderabad; immunology is New Delhi.
Bose Institute vs S. N. Bose National Centre. Both are in Kolkata, but they are different institutes: the Bose Institute is named after its founder, Jagadish Chandra Bose, and only the S. N. Bose Centre is named after Satyendra Nath Bose. The Bose Institute was founded by Jagadish Chandra Bose in 1917 and works under the Department of Science and Technology. The S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences was set up in 1986. If the year is 1917, it is the Bose Institute.
IARI's birthplace, IVRI's headquarters. IARI was founded at Pusa in Bihar in 1905 and moved to New Delhi in 1936 — its present location is New Delhi. IVRI's headquarters is at Izatnagar, near Bareilly; Mukteswar is its older hill campus, not the headquarters. Similarly, TIFR's headquarters is Mumbai — Hyderabad is its second campus, not the head office.
NII's year. NII was registered as a society on 24 June 1981. Some websites give 1986, but that is the year it was formally dedicated to the nation. For a "when was it established" question, the answer is 1981.
VSSC's year. VSSC traces its beginning to the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in 1962, and the name Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre dates from 1972. The founding year to remember is 1962.
Memory Tricks
The 4–4–4–4 cities. Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru have 4 institutes each in this list. Say it as a chant: "Hyderabad four, Kolkata four, Pune four, Bengaluru four." Hyderabad's four are CCMB, NIN, DRDL and CDFD. Kolkata's four are NICED, SINP, ISI and Bose Institute. Pune's four are NCL, NIV, ARI and IUCAA. Bengaluru's four are GTRE, URSC, IISc and RRI.
The 1950 pair and the 1972 pair. CFTRI (Mysuru) and NCL (Pune) were both founded in 1950 — remember "food and chemistry, both fifty". SAC (Ahmedabad) and URSC (Bengaluru) were both set up in 1972 — "space applications and satellites, both seventy-two". And VSSC (1962) shares its year with NICED (1962) — "rockets and cholera, both sixty-two".
Match the founder to the institute. Bose–Bose Institute (1917), Raman–Raman Research Institute (1948), Mahalanobis–ISI (1931), Saha–Saha Institute (1949), Bhabha–TIFR (1945) and BARC (1954), Sarabhai–VSSC.
Practice Questions
Q1. Which institute is India's national measurement institute, and where is it? A: The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi. It maintains India's standards of weights and measures and was founded in 1947.
Q2. Where is the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) located? A: Mysuru, Karnataka. Founded 21 October 1950; it belongs to CSIR.
Q3. Which is the oldest institute in this list, and in which year was it founded? A: The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), founded in 1889. Its headquarters is at Izatnagar, near Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
Q4. Which CSIR laboratory works on oceanography, and where is it? A: The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), at Dona Paula, Goa. It was established on 1 January 1966.
Q5. Which DRDO laboratory develops missile systems, and where is it? A: The Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad. It works on Agni, Prithvi, Akash and Nag missiles.
Q6. Where is the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) located? A: Hyderabad, Telangana. It began in 1918 as the Beri-Beri Enquiry Unit at Coonoor and moved to Hyderabad in 1958.
Q7. Which institute did C. V. Raman found in Bengaluru, and in which year? A: The Raman Research Institute (RRI), founded in 1948. It works in physics and astronomy.
Q8. Where is ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC)? A: Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It was set up in 1972 and works on communication and remote-sensing payloads.
Q9. Which Hyderabad institute works on DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics? A: The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), founded in 1996.
Q10. Who founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and where is its headquarters? A: P. C. Mahalanobis founded it in 1931. Its headquarters is in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the oldest research institute in India? Among the institutes in this list, the oldest is the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), founded in 1889. India's oldest research institution overall is the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, founded in 1876 — not in the table because it is a learned society, not a government laboratory.
How many CSIR laboratories are there in India? 37 national laboratories, as stated in CSIR's own profile of July 2026. CSIR was set up on 26 September 1942 and is headquartered in New Delhi.
Where is BARC located? At Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre was established in January 1954 as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, and renamed BARC in 1967 after Homi Bhabha.
Which institute in Hyderabad works on DNA fingerprinting? The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), founded in 1996. Its parent institute in the same city, CCMB, developed India's DNA fingerprinting technology.
Where is ISRO's satellite centre located? The U. R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) is in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It was set up in 1972 as the ISRO Satellite Centre and renamed in 2018 after former ISRO chairman U. R. Rao.
What is the full form of DRDL? Defence Research and Development Laboratory. It is a DRDO laboratory in Hyderabad that develops missile systems.
Where is the National Institute of Nutrition located? In Hyderabad, Telangana. It works under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and traces its origin to 1918.
Practice Next
- Revise space first: ISRO Missions List (VSSC, SAC and URSC in action — Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan and Aditya-L1).
- Pair this list with Nuclear Power Plants in India List (BARC, TIFR and SINP belong to the same atomic-energy story).
- More firsts and founders: First in India List (Raman, Bhabha and other names from this page).
- Defence research in context: Defence Exercises 2026 List (DRDO's work meets the armed forces).
- Another list in the same format: GI Tags in India 2026 and Famous Temples in India List.
- Numbers that go with these institutes: Census 2011 India Key Facts and National Waterways in India List.
- Science practice: Science Numericals for RRB ALP and JE.
- Test yourself: SSC CGL Science Mock Test 01
- More general awareness: SSC CGL General Awareness Sectional Mock Test 01
- CHSL practice: SSC CHSL General Awareness Mini Mock Test 01
- Physics practice: RRB Group D General Science Physics Sectional Mock Test 01
- More free notes: All Study Notes
Sources: CSIR profile, July 2026 (csir.res.in — 37 national laboratories; CSIR established 26 September 1942); NPL India history (nplindia.in — foundation stone 4 January 1947); IARI official history (pusa.iari.res.in — founded 1905 at Pusa, moved to Delhi 1936); ICMR institutes list (icmr.gov.in — NIN estd. 1918; NIRBI formerly NICED, estd. 1962); NII official history (nii.res.in — registered 24 June 1981; dedicated 1986); BRIC (bric.nic.in — CDFD inception 26 March 1996); VSSC official profile (vssc.gov.in — TERLS 1962, VSSC umbrella July 1972); ISRO official pages (isro.gov.in — ISRO formed 15 August 1969; VSSC Thiruvananthapuram, URSC Bengaluru, SAC Ahmedabad); Wikipedia and India Science (DST) portal entries for CFTRI (21 October 1950, Mysuru), NCL (1950, Pune), NIO (1 January 1966, Goa), CIMAP (1959, Lucknow), CCMB (1 April 1977, Hyderabad), NIV (1952, Pune), DRDL (June 1961, Hyderabad), GTRE (1959, Bengaluru), BARC (3 January 1954, Mumbai), TIFR (1945, Mumbai), SINP (1949, Kolkata), ISI (17 December 1931, Kolkata), IISc (27 May 1909, Bengaluru), RRI (1948, Bengaluru), ARI (1946, Pune), IUCAA (1988, Pune) and Bose Institute (1917, Kolkata); IVRI, NDRI and CIFE years from IARI/ICAR records (IVRI 1889, NDRI 1923, CIFE 6 June 1961). As of 7 November 2026.