Indira Gandhi National Open University came into being on September 20, 1985, by an Act of Parliament (1985) to achieve the following objectives:

Democratizing higher education by taking education to the doorsteps of the learners;
Providing access to high quality education to all those who seek it irrespective of age, region or formal qualifications;
Offering need-based academic programmes by giving professional and vocational orientation to the courses;
As an apex body, setting and maintaining standards in distance education in the country.