The institute was established in the year 1960, and was earlier known as Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering, Nagpur. In the year 1962, the governing board of the institute decided to rename it after the eminent engineer, Sir M. Visvesvaraya. In 2002, the Government of India conferred the 'Deemed to be University' status on the institute under University Grants Commission Act, 1956. Subsequently in 2007, the Indian government conferred upon it the 'Institute of National Importance' status by the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007 of the Indian parliament.