The existing professional or scientific bodies in India at that time were not able to pay adequate attention to nurture and grow these specialized engineering areas at a rapid pace as required by the country. The need for a separate professional institution fully devoted to Telecommunications, and Electronics which could bring together various individuals or groups working in these areas became acute in the early '50s, as India Launched its programme of national development through five-year plans. It was visualized that such an institution could cope with the rapid developments in the above fields, coordinate and disseminate technical knowledge, facilitate exchange of views among the members, publish results of their aspirations to professional status and also serve as a focal point for the orderly growth of this specialized branch in the country. Although, proposals for forming such an institution had been made by several seniors in the profession from time to time in the earlier years, their efforts finaly met with success when the Articles of Association of the Institution of Telecommunication Engineers (name by which IETE was known then) was signed on 01 October 1953. The first President being Shri B R Batra, Chief Engineer, Psats & Telegraph Department, NEW Delhi.
Objectives
. Organise conferences,symposia, Workshops and brain-storming sessions involving all concerned professionals, students and industry associations for the advancement of the discipline.
. Provide a forum for discussion on national policies and to provide suitable inputs to policy makers.
. Promote and conduct basic engineering and continuing technical education programmes for human resource development.
. Promote the use of state-of-the-art techniques of instruction.
. Stimulate research and development in the discipline.
. Enlarge membership base and provide facilities to members to update their professional skills.
. Bring out quality publications for all levels of readership.
. Honour outstanding professionals.
. Organise resources centres and data bases.
. Faciliate inter-disciplinary interaction with other organizations and individuals within and outside the country for the promotion of the discipline.
. Develop the Institution's infrastructure at various centres and expand their activities.
. Undertake socially relevent programmes with Electronics, Telecommunication and IT as tools.
IETE Foundation Day is celebrated at HQ and at all Centres on 02 Nov every year on the theme as decided by the Council.