Indore

Meeting people at IIT Indore

IIT Indore lives on a 501-acre campus at Simrol, about 25 km from Indore city on Khandwa Road, so almost every friendship starts in the hostels, the clubs and the run-up to Fluxus, the annual techno-cultural fest.

The story of IIT Indore

IIT Indore was set up in 2009 as one of the second wave of new IITs, mentored by IIT Bombay. For its first years it had no campus of its own: classes ran out of the Institute of Engineering and Technology at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore city while the permanent site was built.

The founding director, chemist Prof. Pradeep Mathur, set an early emphasis on research and publishing that helped a very young institute build a reputation quickly. The first batch graduated in 2013, and the institute held its first convocation on 8 June that year.

In October 2015 IIT Indore finally moved to its permanent 501-acre campus at Simrol on Khandwa Road. The campus was planned around sustainability, with solar heating and rainwater harvesting, and it is still growing, with new academic buildings and schools being added. The motto is Jnanam Sarvajana-hitaya, knowledge for the benefit of all.

What the campus is like socially

Simrol is quiet and green, close to the forested Mhow and Khandwa belt, which means the campus is self-contained. Students eat, study and hang out within a few minutes' walk, and a trip into Indore city for poha, jalebi and Sarafa's night market is the classic weekend plan.

Hostels are named after scientists and national figures, and residential units mix students from different states and branches, so you meet people outside your department from week one. Clubs under the Students' Gymkhana are where most friend groups form, and the build-up to Fluxus turns the whole campus into one big organising team for a few weeks.

Traditions every IIT Indore student knows

• Fluxus: IIT Indore's annual techno-cultural fest, started in 2011 and usually held in February or March. It mixes pro nights, competitions, hackathons and robotics events, with a new theme every year.
• Weekend trips into Indore: Because the campus is outside the city, heading to Indore for street food at Sarafa or Chappan Dukan is a near-weekly ritual for many students.
• Inter-IIT meets: IIT Indore sends teams to the Inter-IIT sports and cultural meets every year, and trials and practice sessions for these are a big part of campus life.
• Foundation Day: The institute marks its founding each year, and in 2020 it used the occasion to name a hostel after Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, the 18th-century queen of Malwa.

Campus lore and insider spots

• The leopard and the hyena: Simrol borders forest land. A leopard once wandered onto campus and was caught in a cage, and later a hyena was spotted, prompting the institute to ask students to stay alert.
• The DAVV years: For its first six years IIT Indore was a guest inside Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in the city. Older alumni still talk about building an IIT without a campus.
• Devi Ahilya hall: The women's hostel is named after Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, tying the young institute to Indore's own history.
• Not IIM Indore: IIT Indore students get used to explaining that they are not at IIM Indore, the older management school in the same city.

How to find your people here

At IIT Indore, a hobby club, technical society, or the fest organizing crew is the fastest way to meet people outside your own department.

Fests and societies at IIT Indore

Signature fests

• Fluxus (annual social-cultural fest)
• Lakshya (annual sports fest)

Notable societies

• Students' Gymkhana

Societies worth knowing at IIT Indore

• Aaina: The dramatics club, staging plays and street theatre for campus events and inter-college competitions.
• D'Alpha Crewz: The dance crew, a regular performer at Fluxus and at Inter-IIT cultural events.
• The Debating Society and Quiz Club: The go-to clubs for students who like to argue, think fast and travel to inter-college competitions.
• Prakriti: The nature club, fitting for a campus where wildlife sightings are part of the lore.
• Gaming Club: A growing esports and gaming community that runs tournaments and late-night sessions.
• E-Cell: The entrepreneurship cell, which works alongside the institute's innovation centre to support student startups.

Careers, internships and placements

IIT Indore runs a central placement season, with recruiters from software, product, consulting and core engineering. Computer science and electrical engineering draw the strongest interest, while other branches lean more on core and research roles. Summer internships in the pre-final year are a common route to offers.

The institute has a strong research culture for its age, and undergraduates can join faculty-mentored research projects. Many students use publications, projects and startup experience to stand out in interviews, since the IIT Indore name is younger than the original IITs.

Rivalries and eternal debates

The running joke is the name clash with IIM Indore, the older management school in the same city. Within the IIT world, IIT Indore sits in the eternal old IITs versus new IITs debate, and students like to answer it by pointing at the institute's research record and modern campus. The real annual battleground is the Inter-IIT sports and cultural meets.

Meeting people at IIT Indore by interest

A lot of friendships here form around a shared interest rather than a class or a hostel wing. If you are into coding and hackathons, startups and builders, gaming and esports, running, and reading and book clubs, those pages cover where that scene actually happens in India and how to find people near you who are into the same thing.

Colleges nearby

IIT Indore sits close to National Law Institute University Bhopal, IIM Indore, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS), and Medi-Caps University, all part of the same Indore student scene. Cross-college friendships often start at inter-college fests, hackathons, or shared-interest communities rather than in class.

Similar campuses across India

If you are looking beyond your own campus, students at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, IIT Jammu, IIT Jodhpur, and IIT Mandi share a similar campus culture, and Zyber works the same way at each: showing you verified people nearby who match on interest, intent, or timing.

Zyber on campus

Zyber is built for meeting people nearby in real time, with verified profiles only. At IIT Indore, that means showing you people near you who share your interests or your drive, whether or not you overlap on a class or a society.

New to IIT Indore? Start here

If you are just starting out, these freshers guides are written for exactly this moment: first week of college checklist, how to choose societies in college, making friends beyond your branch, and hackathons for beginners in india.

See meeting people in Indore, events in Indore, the freshers guide, the Meet People pillar, or read what Zyber is.