The first science museum, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata under CSIR, was opened on May 2, 1959. In July 1965 the second science museum, Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum (VITM) was opened in Bangalore. After Kolkata and Bangalore, the work for the third centre at Mumbai was taken up in 1974. As the popularisation of science and technology through the Science Museums grew in scope and size, the Union Planning Commission constituted a Task Force in early 1970’s to assess the activities of the Science Museums. Task Force recommended to set up Science Museums in different parts of the country at National, State and District levels and also recommended formation of a central coordinating agency. In 1978, it was decided by the Government of India to delink from CSIR the two science museums already operating at Kolkata and Bangalore and also the one being set up at Mumbai and put them under a newly formed Society registered on April 4, 1978 as National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).
