Campus guide · IIT Bombay · Powai, Mumbai
IIT Bombay's campus covers 200 hectares in Powai, about 494 acres, according to the institute itself. The "550 acres" you'll see repeated across the internet doesn't appear on any official IIT Bombay page we could find. The campus sits between Powai Lake and Vihar Lake, holds 21 residence halls and more than 13,000 residents, and is wild enough that leopards and crocodiles still turn up. This is the sourced guide: size, hostels, how to get there, whether you can visit, and what students say about living there.
How big is the IIT Bombay campus?
The institute's own About page puts it plainly: "IIT Bombay's campus covers 200 hectares in Powai, Mumbai" (IIT Bombay). The older official history page said the same and described where it sits: "The institute campus at Powai extends over 200 hectares and is situated in picturesque surroundings with the Vihar and the Powai lakes on either side and green hills in and around" (archived IIT Bombay history page).
Two hundred hectares is roughly 494 acres. The 550-acre figure circulates on aggregator and quiz sites, but we couldn't trace it to the institute. If you need a number for an essay or a quiz answer, use 200 hectares and cite IIT Bombay.
| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Campus area | 200 hectares (about 494 acres) | iitb.ac.in/about |
| Location | Powai, a north-eastern suburb of Mumbai, between Powai and Vihar lakes | IIT Bombay (archived) |
| Founded | 1958; first batch of 100 students | IIT Bombay history page |
| Residence halls | 21 | Hostel Affairs, IIT Bombay |
| Campus residents | 13,000+ | Hostel Affairs, IIT Bombay |
| Visitor entry | Gate pass generated in advance by a student or employee | IIT Bombay |
IIT Bombay was the second IIT, and the first built with foreign help: "The funds from UNESCO came as Roubles from the then Soviet Union" (archived IIT Bombay About page). The campus was planned as a township. Banks, a shopping centre, schools and a hospital are all inside, and "All students and most faculty live on campus" (IIT Bombay campus page, archived).
Where is IIT Bombay, and how do you get there?
The campus is in Powai, in Mumbai's eastern suburbs. The institute's travel page lists the international terminal (T2) at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport as "about 10 kms from IIT Bombay". By local train, "Those coming by Central Railway Suburban train will have to get down at Kanjur Marg, Vikhroli or Ghatkopar which are the nearest stations from IITB" (Getting to IIT Bombay, archived). Students agree Kanjurmarg is closest; one on r/iitbombay adds that long-distance trains usually mean getting off at Thane instead.
Can you visit IIT Bombay?
Not as a walk-in. "To access the IIT Bombay campus, a visitor must obtain a soft copy of a gate pass. Employees or students of IIT Bombay are responsible for generating the pass ahead of the visit" (IIT Bombay gate pass page). In practice you need someone on campus to invite you. The exceptions are the two big fests, Mood Indigo and Techfest, both in December 2026, which have their own registration and entry rules.
IIT Bombay hostels: how many, and which is which
The student Hostel Affairs council counts 21 residence halls and more than 13,000 campus residents (Hostel Affairs, IIT Bombay). Its directory lists Hostels 1 to 19, Hostel 21 and Tansa House. Hostels go by number, and each has its own mess: "Messes are present in each individual hostel. These messes serve food 4 times a day" (IIT Bombay student housing page).
The count has grown fast. A 2023 version of the official hostel page described "17 Hostels of campus (hostels no-1 to16, hostel no -18 and Tansa)" (archived), so four have opened since.
Women's hostels. The only official list we found is older and predates the newest halls: "Hostel No 10, 10A, 11 and 15(C wing) are girls hostels" (IIT Bombay student housing page). Check the current allocation with Hostel Affairs before you arrive.
For fees, room types and whether hostel is compulsory at each IIT, see our IIT hostel guide. IIT Bombay's new-entrant hostel fees for Autumn 2026-27 come to ₹19,950 plus a ₹22,500 mess advance.
Leopards and crocodiles, really
The lakes and hills around the campus bring wildlife in. In June 2026, "A leopard was spotted inside the IIT-Bombay campus in Mumbai’s Powai during the early hours of Friday, where it was seen attacking and killing a dog" (Indian Express, 20 June 2026). Three months earlier, "A 9-foot marsh crocodile was rescued from the campus" (Mid-day, 16 March 2026). Neither is an everyday sight, but walking near the lake after dark calls for some sense.
Buildings worth knowing
- Main Building: administration, and the Hostel Coordinating Unit, which is "located on the minus one level of the Main Building" (IIT Bombay, archived).
- Lecture Hall Complex: "classrooms of various sizes from a large auditorium to small tutorial rooms", including four 350-seat auditoriums (IIT Bombay, archived).
- Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay's business school, on the same campus.
- Sameer Hill, for the view, and the Olympic-size swimming pool.
What students say about the campus
"the campus during summer is something else, truly something everyone should experience once" (r/iitbombay)
"If I could I would forever want to live in this campus." (an M.Tech student, r/iitbombay)
"There’s one cat at the EE dept. building, named James Watt (i think…)." (r/iitbombay)
More on IIT Bombay: placements 2026, the CSE package data, and the December fests.
From IIT Bombay? Rep your campus with IIT Bombay merchandise: hoodies, tees, varsity jackets and mugs, shipped across India.
By Arun Raghav S · Co-founder, IITian Vibes · Facts retrieved 30 September 2026 from the linked institute pages. Photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown. Corrections to hello@iitianvibes.com.