Established in 1984, the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) is one among the chain of 38 national laboratories functioning under the aegis of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and is its youngest laboratory. Set-up to be a fore-runner in the sun-rise area of Biotechnology, the Institute occupies an area of about 47 acres, of which the labs covered 22 acres and the residential campus 25 acres. The Institute has a built up area of about 3.60 lakh sq. ft., which is spread over five main buildings, namely, Main R&D block (~2.00 lakhs sq. ft.), Fermentation block (~0.50 lakhs sq. ft.), Animal House (~0.30 lakhs sq. ft.), Workshop, Stores and Services area (~0.50 lakhs sq. ft.), and Cafeteria (~0.10 lakhs sq. ft.). The Institute provides functionally modular and large, air-conditioned, clean research areas to all the scientists. The Institute's primary asset is a team of 48 highly motivated young scientists, 36 of whom are Ph.D.s with many of them having several years of training in world-renowned laboratories. Supported by more than 145 well-trained technicians and graduate students, these scientists are engaged in research, both basic and application-oriented, in four major areas namely:

• Molecular Biology and Microbial Genetics
  
• Cell Biology and Immunology
  
• Protein Science and Engineering
  
• Fermentation Technology and Applied Microbiology