The Central Institute of Classical Tamil is an autonomous institution functioning under the aegis of the Language Division of the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India for the development of the Tamil language. Following the commitment of the Central Government
under the National Common Minimum Programme, the official recognition of Tamil as a classical language was given by the Government of India on 12.10.2004. After the notification, the Union Government of India set up a separate wing to run an office for the promotion of Classical Tamil in the year 2005 in the name of the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT) which was attached to the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, from March 2006 to May 18, 2008.

The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) started functioning on 19th May 2008 at Palar House, Chepauk, Chennai as an autonomous organization wholly funded by the Ministry of Education. The The institution was registered on 21st January 2009 under Section 10 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act (1975) (Registration No.1/2009).

The Central Institute of Classical Tamil, which has been functioning in Palar House since May 2012, has been relocated to the Institute of Road Transport campus at Taramani and functioned till January 2022. Presently it was functioning on its own premises which was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in the august presence of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at Perumbakkam Chennai on 12.01.2022.

The mission of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) is to exclusively concentrate on research works relating to the Classical phase of Tamil (from the early period to 600 AD), which addresses the vital issues of the antiquity and uniqueness of Tamil.