Originally established in 1980 as Koneru Lakshmaiah Charities (trust), Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) went on to be registered as a society and thus started one of the first private engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh

Koneru Lakshmaiah was an industrialist, educationalist and visionary, who was among the first few in Andhra Pradesh to have set up a private engineering college. His foresight and pioneering effort resulted in the Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF).

KLEF began as KL College of Engineering in 1980-81, in Vijayawada. Having attained autonomous status in 2006 and subsequently in 2009, KLEF was recognized as Deemed to be University, now known as KL(deemed to be) University.