NIIT Limited ''(National Institute of Information Technology)'' is an Indian multinational skills and talent development corporation headquartered in

Gurgaon, India Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

. The company was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome its

human resource Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...

challenges. ''NIIT'' offers training and development to individuals, enterprises and institutions.

History

NIIT was established in 1981 by Rajendra S. Pawar and Vijay K. Thadani, graduates from IIT Delhi, with one million rupees. NIIT conceived a franchising model in IT education for the very first time, setting up nine centers by 1987. In 1986, NIIT began its foray into the software domain, beginning with Software Product Distribution under the 'Insoft' brand. The company also began offering advice and consultancy to large corporations on how to leverage technology and make optimum use of their IT investments. In 1988, NIIT introduced many marketing and advertising strategies for the Indian market including the 'Computer drome' in 1990. Another initiative launched by NIIT, was its Bhavishya Jyoti Scholarships program, launched in 1991, which was targeted at deserving and socially challenged students with an aim to improve their skills and employability quotient. In 1992, NIIT launched its flagship program GNIIT, an industry-endorsed course with a 12-month Professional Practice for students seeking careers in the IT and non-IT sectors. By 1993, the NIIT stock began trading on Indian stock exchanges. In 1996, NIIT began its globalization journey, setting up an education center in Hong Kong. In the same year, the company launched its virtual university 'NetVarsity'. In 1998, NIIT joined a handful of Indian tech companies to enter the Chinese market. The company earned the epithet, the 'McDonald's of the software business' by Far Eastern Economic Review in September, 2001. The same year, NIIT launched an experiment that was christened 'Hole-in-the-Wall' by media and drew international attention. The experiment was based on the ‘

minimally invasive education Minimally invasive education (MIE) is a form of learning in which children operate in unsupervised environments. The methodology arose from an experiment done by Sugata Mitra while at NIIT in 1999, often called ''The Hole in the Wall'', which h ...

’ methodology developed by NIIT R&D. It suggested that children, irrespective of their social, ethnic, or educational identity could learn to use computers by themselves, without adult intervention. In 2003, NIIT launched its MindChampions Academy (MCA) with Viswanathan Anand, five-time former World Chess champion and NIIT Brand Ambassador.

In 2004, NIIT sectioned off its software business into an independent organization called NIIT Technologies Ltd. (Source: NASSCOM's 2013–14 Ranking of Top 20 IT services companies). In the area of training, NIIT launched its 'Edgeineers' program in 2005, to boost career opportunities for engineering graduates. In 2006, it diversified into various new sectors for training, such as banking, finance and insurance (through IFBI), executive management education (through NIIT Imperia brand), Professional Life Skills training and business process management training (through Evolv and NIIT Uniqua). In 2009, NIIT University (NU), a not-for-profit University was established, under section 2(f) of UGC Act and notified by the Government of Rajasthan. In 2014, NIIT tied up with National Skill Development Corporation to launch NIIT Yuva Jyoti centers, under the pilot phase of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's

Skill India Skill India or the National Skills Development Mission of India is a campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is managed by the National Skills Development Corporation of India. History Skill India campaign was launched by Prime Mi ...

campaign and the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) in North East, J&K and Jharkhand. In May 2019,

Baring Private Equity Asia BPEA EQT (formerly known as Baring Private Equity Asia and BPEA) is an Asian private equity firm. Previously it was an affiliate of Barings Bank before becoming an independent firm. In 2022 it was acquired by EQT Partners to act as its Asian inve ...

had acquired controlling stake of NIIT Ltd in NIIT Technologies Ltd. In August 2020, NIIT Technologies Ltd. rebranded itself and began operating under the name

Coforge Coforge, formerly known as NIIT Technologies, is an Indian multinational information technology company based in Noida, India and New Jersey, United States. The company's stock trades on the Bombay Stock Exchange and on the National Stock Exch ...

Limited.

Acquisitions

In 2001, NIIT acquired Osprey Systems, DEI and Click2learn in the US, to establish its e-learning and corporate learning practices in that country. In 2006, NIIT acquired Element K, a provider of learning solutions in North America. Subsequently, Element K was sold off in 2012. On October 1, 2021 NIIT announced the acquisition of a 70% stake acquisition in RPS Consulting, a Bengaluru based training company.

Financial controversy

On June 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India concluded an investigation regarding insider trading within NIIT Technologies. The investigation verified that insider trading had occurred, as a result of a corporate announcement made on behalf of NIIT on the floor of the

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange under the ownership of various group of domestic and global financial institutions, public and privately owned entities and individuals. It is located in Mumbai, M ...

on March 23, 2015.

NIIT subsidiaries

* NIIT (USA), Inc. * NIIT Ireland Ltd * NIIT Institute of Finance, Banking & Insurance Training Ltd. * NIIT China (Shanghai) Limited * NIIT Antilles NV * NIIT Learning Solutions (Canada) Limited * Learning Universe Private Limited * NIIT Institute of Process Excellence Ltd.

Timeline

* 1981: NIIT was established by Rajendra S. Pawar and Vijay K. Thadani to optimize on the opportunity of booming IT education and training in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

* 1982: Setup educational centres in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

and

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

; Introduced Multimedia technology in education * 1983: Corporate training program introduced * 1984:

IT consultancy In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) is a field of activity which focuses on advising or ...

service started * 1985: Head Office integrated at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

* 1986: Software product distribution started under "Insoft" brand * 1987: Conceived Franchising Model of education * 1990: Created the Computer drome to provide unlimited computer time to students * 1991: First overseas office set up in US; "Bhavishya Jyoti Scholarships" launched for meritorious and socially challenged students * 1992: GNIIT program started with professional practice * 1993: Received

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO ...

for software export; Listed on BSE * 1995: NIIT tied up with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

to provide education of Microsoft technologies * 1996: First overseas education center launched; Launched "NetVarsity", the virtual University; Awarded

for Computer Education * 1997: NIIT was the first Indian Company to be assessed at SEI CMM Level 5 for Software Business; Unique distinction puts NIIT into first list of 21st Global companies * 1999: Achieved the status of Microsoft's best training partner in Asia; Five time World Champion

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating o ...

became NIIT Brand Ambassador; Started Hole-in-the-Wall (HiWEl) experiment for disadvantaged children. * 2000: Tied up with Oracle Corporation to provide education on Oracle technologies specially on Oracle Database; Collaborated with Sun Microsystems on "iForce initiatives on computing giant" * 2001: Microsoft awarded NIIT the "Best Training Company Award" * 2003: Launched NIIT MindChampions Academy with

to promote chess in schools. * 2004: Global Solutions Business spun off into NIIT Technologies; Industry endorsed GNIIT curriculum was launches; NIIT and Intel signed a deal to use technology-assisted learning in school * 2005: Launch of NIIT IT Aptitude Test (NITAT) * 2006: Launched new businesses called NIIT Litmus which provides testing & assessment services for IT&ITES organizations,

NIIT Imperia NIIT Limited ''(National Institute of Information Technology)'' is an Indian multinational skills and talent development corporation headquartered in Gurgaon, India. The company was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome ...

which would provide three certificate programs from

Indian Institutes of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busines ...

and IFBI - Institute of Finance Banking and Insurance (NIIT IFBI) * 2009: Founded and commenced new "NIIT University" campus in

Neemrana Neemrana is an ancient historical town in Alwar district of Rajasthan, India, from Alwar city, from New Delhi and from Jaipur on the Delhi-Jaipur highway in Neemrana tehsil. It is between Behror and Shahajahanpur. Neemrana is an industria ...

, Rajasthan offering more post graduation level courses. * 2011: Launch of NIIT Yuva Jyoti Limited (NYJL)- a joint venture between NIIT and NSDC to fuel growth in Skills & Employability for youth across India * 2012: Launch of Digital Marketing Program; NIIT received 'Top IT Training Company Award 2012' for the 20th year in succession by Cybermedia publications. * 2013: NIIT, NIIT University entered into a MoU with

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartere ...

to evangelize design as a learning discipline in India; NIIT launched 'Program in Business Analytics'; NIIT launches NIIT Cloud Campus: A pioneering initiative undertaken to help take high quality educational programs to the remotest corners of the country; NIIT enters Test Preparation Market with CTET Coaching * 2014: NIIT launches its new persona based website www.niit.com * 2015: Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) recognizes NIIT as the "Best Educational Website"; NIIT enters into MoU with Guian New Area, China *2016: Launch of Training.com to offer online training *2017: Sapnesh Lalla takes charge as the CEO of NIIT Ltd. *In May 2019,

had acquired controlling stake of NIIT Ltd in NIIT Technologies Ltd.

Business units

NIIT has two main lines of business across the globe – Corporate Learning Group and Skills & Careers Business. NIIT's Corporate Learning Group (CLG) offers Managed Training Services (MTS) to market-leading companies in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The Skills & Careers Business (SNC) delivers a diverse range of learning and talent development programs to millions of individual and corporate learners in areas including Digital Transformation, Banking, Finance & Insurance, Retail Sales Enablement, Digital Media Marketing, and new-age IT. NIIT has incubated, StackRoute, as a digital transformation partner for corporates to build multi-skilled full stack developers at scale.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:NIIT Education companies established in 1981 Companies based in Gurgaon Educational institutions established in 1981 For-profit universities and colleges 1981 establishments in Haryana Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange