 HBTU is the mother institute of the National Sugar Institute (in 1936, then known as Imperial Institute of Sugar Technology), the Government Central Textile Institute (in 1937), now known as the Uttar Pradesh Textile Technology Institute, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT/K) in 1960, the Glass Institute and Rajkiya Engineering College Mainpuri (also known as Government Engineering College, GEC/M) in 2015.It was also one of the 127 technical institutions in India which were the recipients of funding from World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) in the phase one (2004–2009) of the Technical Engineering Educational Quality Improvement Project – the first World Bank project in Higher education in India.The history of Harcourt Butler Technical University dates back to the 1920s when there was a growing realization of the need for advancement in science and technology among the people of what was then called the United Provinces.