Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (Hindi: भारतीय प्रोद्योगिकी संसथान गुवाहाटी, IIT Guwahati, IITG) is an autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education established by the Government of India, located in Guwahati, in the state of Assam in India. It is the sixth Indian Institute of Technology established in India. IITG is officially recognised as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. The institute consistently ranks amongst the top engineering colleges in the academic ranking of Indian colleges by various engineering education surveys like India Today, Dataquest etc. The history of IIT Guwahati traces its roots to the 1985 Assam Accord signed between the All Assam Students Union and the Govt. of India, which mentions the general improvement in education facilities in Assam and specifically the setting up of an IIT. IITG was established in 1994 by an act of parliament and its academic programme commenced in 1995. IITG admitted its first batch of students into its Bachelor of Technology programme in 1995. The selection process was the same as that of all IITs, i.e. through the Joint Entrance Examination.