Nestled on the banks of the sacred River Ganges, Kanpur is famous as one of North India's major industrial centers, and has great historical, religious and commercial importance. According to the legends, it is believed that the city was founded by king Hindu Singh of Sachendi and was then known as "Kanhpur". Kanpur is the largest and most famous industrial town of Uttar Pradesh, and is the administrative headquarters of Kanpur Nagar district, Kanpur Dehat district and Kanpur division. This beautiful city is a major tourist destination and is the main center of India's leather industry.
IIT Kanpur is a residential campus (1055 acres) located off GT Road near Kalyanpur, about 15 km west of Kanpur city.
You can reach Kanpur by flying to any of the three nearby airports: Kanpur, Lucknow and Delhi.
Kanpur airport is located around 23 kms from campus in Chakeri. The airport is still growing and has relatively fewer flights compared to Lucknow and Delhi. However as of April 2019, there are now flights to other important cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru from Kanpur. The cabs will cost around Rs. 700 and will take around an hour to hour and a half to reach campus.
Lucknow airport is located about 95 kms from IIT Kanpur. You can hire taxis (OLA outstation is also available) at the airport. The average cost is around Rs. 1600 depending on the vehicle used. It takes anywhere between two and three hours to drive from the Lucknow airport to the IIT campus.
Delhi is the adjoining major airport which has flights to all Indian cities along with important foreign destinations. Delhi is just about 438 km from the city of Kanpur. Flights from Delhi to Kanpur are also available. After reaching Delhi, there are multiple ways to reach Kanpur.
Kanpur Central Railway (CNB) station is among the busiest railway stations in the country, and is well connected to most cities in North, East and Central India. It is located on the Delhi-Kolkata train route and all major trains between these cities usually pass through and stop at Kanpur. You can easily get regular trains to Kanpur from other major cities of the country.
IIT Kanpur is located at a distance of about 16 kilometers from the Kanpur Central Railway station. It is possible to hire taxis (about Rs. 350) and auto rickshaws (about Rs.220) to IITK campus from the station. It takes about 40 minutes to an hour to drive from Kanpur Central Railway station to IIT Kanpur.
There are other railway stations like Kanpur Anwarganj (CPA) and Kalyanpur (KYP) that serve the city and its metropolitan region.
There are several important national highways that pass through Kanpur. National Highway (NH) 19, which connects several important Indian cities like Delhi, Agra and Kolkata, passes through Kanpur. Kanpur is connected to Lucknow via NH 27 and is about 90 km from Lucknow. NH 86 and NH 91 are other highways that connect Kanpur to Ghaziabad, Bhopal and Indore.
The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has a number of public bus services that ply between Kanpur and other cities like Lucknow, Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, and Rai Barely. There are also bus services that ply between Delhi and Kanpur overnight.
There are regular buses from other major cities of the country to Kanpur.