The M.Phil. Programme of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, with a specialization in Planning and Development, was launched in July 1993. It is a 4 semester interdisciplinary course. The programme, with its theoretical-practical thrust, provides the students with a holistic understanding of socio-economic realities and the impact of technology. It also acquaints them with the various stages and levels of expertise involved in the formulation and implementation of development policies that can bring about desirable, stable and sustainable development. The programme includes both coursework and field work and requires the completion of a thesis. It is expected that students emerging from this programme will be capable of steering the national, state and regional planning and developmental processes. There is a paucity of such personnel in India at present and IIT Bombay is the first institute to start a programme with a view to addressing this insufficiency.
The M.Phil. programme has an average annual intake of about 10-12 students.