School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi (SPA New Delhi) is a higher education federal institute located in New Delhi, India specializing in education and research, and serving as the national center of excellence, in the fields of planning and architecture. The institute primarily offers undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and executive education programs. It forms part of the league with the other two Schools of Planning and Architecture, namely SPA Bhopal and SPA Vijayawada established by the Government of India with the objective of providing quality Architecture and physical planning education.
Each SPA is autonomous and exercises independent control over its day-to-day operations. However, the administration of all SPAs and the overall strategy of SPAs is overseen by the SPA council. The SPA Council is headed by India's Minister of Human Resource Development and consists of the chairpersons and directors of all SPAs and senior officials from the MHRD.
The beginning of the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi dates back to the year 1941, as a Department of Architecture of the Delhi Polytechnic of Delhi University (now Delhi Technological University). In 1959 it was merged with the School of Town and Country Planning (established in 1955 by the Government of India), renamed to its current name, and affiliated to the University of Delhi. In 1979, recognizing its national and international eminence, the institute was granted Deemed University status. In 2008, the Government of India established two more SPAs, namely SPA Bhopal and SPA Vijaywada. In 2014, Lok Sabha passed a bill to make all the three SPAs "center of excellence" on the pattern of IITs and IIMs. It was named an "Institution of National Importance" under the SPA Act 2014.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Planning_and_Architecture,_New_Delhi