 The CICT was formerly known as the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT) and had been functioning at the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, a branch of the Department of Higher Education, Language Bureau, Ministry of Human Resource Development.In May 2008, the CECT was moved to Chennai and was rechristened as the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT).The chairman of the new institute was the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi.