This institute was established under Brahmaputra Board at Rudreswar, North Guwahati as per clause 7 of Assam Accord, and operationalized during 1996. The main functions of NEHARI are material testing, carrying out Hydraulic model studies etc. Facilities such as Hydraulic Laboratory with model trays and flumes and Laboratories for testing soil, concrete, other construction materials and foundation rock exist in the institute. Rejuvenation and renovation of NEHARI has been lunched with following components:

• Training of manpower at institutes of repute like CWPRS, Pune and CSMRS, New Delhi.
• Replacing the old irreparable machineries / equipment with latest laboratory machineries / equipment & Repair the repairable machineries / equipment
• Renovation of infrastructure at NEHARI