The Extension Centre at New Delhi is an autonomous, non profit making institution constituted as a public charitable trust for teaching, research and consultancy in the areas of ecology and environment. The Institute has the appropriate technology for the transfer of knowledge in the areas of ecology and environment in general and environmental engineering, impact assessment, pollution monitoring and control, systems analysis, wildlife conservation, environmental communication, ecological education and environmental laws in particular. The motivation for bringing awareness especially among the educational organisations has been based on the issues of environmental education discussed in the deliberations at Founes in 1971.

Since its inception on 5th June 1986 and inauguration of the Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Ecology and Environment, the Institute has brought out more than 3000 research reports, occasional monographs, case books besides the 30 volume International Encyclopaedia of Ecology and Environment, 10 volume Encyclopaedia of Environmental Sciences and 10 volume Encyclopaedia of Environmental Laws.The main idea behind the unique programmes of the Institute is creation of environment friendly and sustainable jobs by vocationalising the environmental careers and tackling the problems of unemployment and pollution for having a sustainable society before entering the twentyfirst century.