The Catholic Church in India had active collaboration and involvement with the international Catholic media bodies like UNDA and OCIC (SIGNIS) which helped in the area of developing media skills and training. The church in India has several regional communication centres at the regional or local level. However the need was felt to have a national centre to train personnel to be able to take on issues and programmes that will be relevant and useful to the whole nation.

After several consultation and feasibility studies from 1994, the CBCI in its General Body Meeting held in Trivandrum in 1996 decided to establish National Media Training and Research Institute. It was also decided that the centre should be in or around Delhi, as it was felt that such an institute of national importance should be located in the capital of the nation, as this would enable the institute to have access to the policy-makers as well as to the major media centres of the country. Further, it directed the CBCI Media Commission to initiate the necessary steps towards its realization

A new Society was registered in September 1997 under the legal title: “CBCI Society for Social Communications, Research and Training”, while the Institute itself was christened as: “NISCORT” (National Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training). From that time onwards, the NISCORT team operated from the Archbishop's House, New Delhi. From 1999 onwards the Institute functioned temporarily at Palam Vihar, Gurgaon (Haryana). In 2002 the Institute was shifted to its permanent campus at Vaishali, Gaziabad, UP.

Accordingly, a new Society was registered in September 1997 under the legal title: “CBCI Society for Social Communications, Research and Training”, while the Institute itself was christened as: “NISCORT” (National Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training). From that time onwards, the NISCORT team operated from the Archbishop's House, New Delhi. From 1999 onwards, the Institute began to take shape: in February the Institute was set up temporarily at Palam Vihar, Gurgaon (Haryana), in July 1999, Fr. Sebasti L. Raj, SJ took over as the first Director of NISCORT and a few more new staff members also joined the Institute in 1999 and in the following years.

In early 2001, NISCORT purchased a four-acre plot of land from the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), at Vaishali, at the Delhi-UP border, situated about 16 Kms. away from the CBCI Centre. On August 5, 2001, the foundation was laid for the first building of the new campus. When this first building (the hostel building) was completed after about a year, the Institute was shifted to its permanent campus on September 10, 2002. The second building (academic building) was completed in August 2003. The formal inauguration of the permanent campus of NISCORT and the blessing of the academic block took place on August 17, 2003. Along with the construction of these two buildings, the entire campus has been developed adequately and attractively.

The vision of NISCORT is to serve as an effective communication think-tank and as a centre for advanced learning, training and research in matters related to communication and give to the mass media of the nation, a specific thrust, which will promote and uphold the cherished media values and morality.

To create and support a movement for promoting and upholding national and democratic values, so that a high respect is given to the democratic and secular aspects and on the right of the citizens to get the correct information from the mass media

• To change the tone of the mass media in India and restore respect for tolerance and diversity, thus ensuring peace and harmony among different communities and groups, which is absolutely essential for economic prosperity
• To produce committed media persons of high calibre, who are ready to take the risk to act responsibly and with conviction.
• To support mainstream journalism and provide a counterweight to sensationalism.
• To integrate the skills and techniques of mass media and communications with social action, education, health care, etc. in order to promote a sustainable development of society.
• To serve as a counter to the mushroom growth of communication institutes that are grossly business and profit oriented, by discouraging actively the craze for excessive profit so that the mass media can really serve and promote the common good of the nation.

To pursue these goals and objectives, NISCORT :

• Provides training to all eligible candidates, irrespective of caste or faith, in order to bring in objective communication skills into the secular media;
• Develops and offers courses that will equip those in different fields of human services – health care, education, spiritual ministries, social action, etc. -- with appropriate techniques and skills of effective communication;
• Offers courses in different languages and in different regions, so that the regional and linguistic differences receive adequate attention and adaptation in the mass media, taking into account the diversity of cultures and languages;
• Places a high premium on the practical and experiential aspects of training by offering about 50% of the course-time for practical and field exposures and makes the maximum effort to secure suitable placements to those who pass out of the Institute;
• Provides financial support to those who are economically weak, through scholarships or subsidies;
• Undertakes and publishes research projects on various issues related to the mass media and communications in the Indian society in order to contribute to media policy and public opinion;
• Engages in active and creative dialogue with the centres of mass media and the Government on issues of fairness, accuracy, tolerance, harmony, peace, security of life, human rights, and media policy;
• Facilitates public discussion and dialogue on vital communication and media issues through seminars, forums, websites, e-paper, etc.;
• Creates a data bank on media related topics and events and makes these accessible to others, including online access;
• Produces educational materials on mass media and communications for use by families, groups, institutions and the service sectors.