The origin of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) the apex body of road sector engineers and professionals in the country can be traced back to the Road Development Committeeset up under the Chairmanship of Shri M.R. Jayakkar in 1927 by the then Government of India, which recommended for periodical holding of road conferences to discuss the issues related to road construction, maintenance & development. The first such Road Conference was held in April, 1930. Subsequently with the formalization of Road Fund, creation of a wider and permanent organization in place of Periodical Road Conferences was felt and thus, the IRC came into being
The inaugural meeting of IRC was held at the Town Hall, New Delhi on Monday the 10th December 1934 under the chairmanship of Mr. D.G.Mitchell, Secretary to the then Govt. of India in the department of Industries and Labour, Public Works Branch. This meeting was attended by 73 Engineers, from all parts of the then India. This marked the birth of the Indian Roads Congress.
When the activities of the IRC expanded, IRC was formally registered as a society on 24th September 1937 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.
Starting with a modest membership of 73 in 1934, the IRC has more than five million associates (direct/indirect) and over 16,700 registered members comprising of engineers & professionals of all Stakeholders of road sector from Central and State Governments, Public Sector, Research Institutions, Local bodies, Private sector, Concessionaires, Contractors, Consultants, Equipment manufacturers Machinery manufacturers, Material producers & suppliers, Industrial Associations, Multilateral & Institutional organization like World Bank, ADB, JICA, JRA, IRF etc.