The Society of Franciscan Brothers was founded in 1901, with Mumbai as its International Headquarter to educate and cater to the needs of the orphans of the area. A formal orphanage and school were thus established in 1908. The Society now has 67 centers in India, conducting orphanages, schools, technical training centers, leprosy centers, agricultural training farms, youth centers, clinics, dispensary, hospitals, etc. Their main focuses in all these activities is oriented towards orphans, the poor and lower-middle class, without any distinction whatsoever. In rural area, they aim to provide primary education and an appropriate level of technological education to create self-employed persons/small entrepreneurs.

The Society’s Higher Education Centers are located in urban and semi urban areas, providing higher level general and technical education with a view to create a technical entrepreneur and skilled professionals. The Society’s institutes/schools/colleges have a very high level of competence and reputation and have been winning State and National awards. All the units of the Society are registered under the relevant laws of the States as Trusts/Public Societies, etc. They have their centers in USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, South America and Sri Lanka with Mumbai as the Headquarter.

In 1964 the Society established St. Francis Industrial Training Institute, here in Borivli, registered under the national ITI scheme and down the years, it has won many State and national awards for its excellent facility and high standard of training. Subsequently it was also registered as a separate Society, namely “Society of St. Francis Industrial Training Institute”.

As a natural progression, in 1999, Society of St. Francis Industrial Training Institute started, “St. Francis Institute of Technology” (SFIT). It is in the midst of a generous 5 acres of lush verdant settings which gives conducive environment to the students. The College is approved by AICTE and affiliated to the University of Mumbai, ISO 9001:2015 certified and currently offers nine programs (5 UG, 2 PG & 2 PhD). At present, there are about 2057 students in SFIT studying BE, ME and PhD courses.