In the early 1950s, the township of Kalyani University Distance Education was developed as the brainchild of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Kalyani was planned to grow as a satellite town in the long-term perspective plan of the Calcutta Urban Agglomeration.

For the planned development of the town, the need for emphasizing education and health infrastructure was duly emphasized in the master plan and the University of Kalyani was established in November 1960, as a unitary university with the faculties of Arts, and Science, Education, and Agriculture. Since its inception, the University marked its progress and attracted students of the region as well as many eminent scholars of the country.