The Indian Institutes of Technology (popularly known as IITs) are institutions of national importance established through an Act of Parliament for fostering excellence in education. There are Twenty Three IITs at present, located in Varanasi, Bhilai, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, New Delhi, Dhanbad, Dharwad, Gandhinagar, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Chennai, Mandi, Palakkad, Patna, Roorkee, Ropar and Tirupati.