Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU)

Overview

The HBTU was named after Mr. Spencer Harcourt Bulter, Governor of the United Provinces in British India. Its programs have been conferred in automation status under the university. It is one of the oldest engneering institute in the country and holds NAAC A+ accreditation an ISO 9001:2000 certifictaion. The history of Harcourt Butler Technical University dates back to the 1920s when there was a growing realization of the need for advancement in science and technology among the people of what was then called the United Provinces. Consequently, the Indian Industrial Commission, 1916–18, at its Nainital meeting proposed two institutions for engineering — one at Roorkee (at Roorkee, the Thompson College of Civil Engineering was established in 1847 by Colonel Proby Cautley, making IIT Roorkee older than HBTI) and the other at Kanpur. To boost entrepreneurship, accelerate industrial development, create a sound environment for contemporary applied research, and inculcate scientific temper, an institute called Government Research Institute, Cawnpore was started in 1920. It was housed in the two rooms of what was called Bhoot Wali Kothi. The old majestic building is still intact at the northwest corner of the Company Bagh crossing, near Nawabganj. Dr. H. E. Annett, who was then the Principal of the Opium Research Laboratory, Cawnpore, of which the new institute was an adjunct, was appointed as the head.