The Indian Statistical Institute was founded by Professor P.C. Mahalanobis in Kolkata on 17th December, 1931. The institute gained the status of an Institution of National Importance by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1959.

The Delhi Centre of the Indian Statistical Institute was started in 1974, and shifted to its present campus in 1975. Some of India's leading statisticians, mathematicians, and economists have been on its faculty, and its training programs enjoy worldwide repute.