The Prefecture Apostolic of Assam was established in 1889 with its head Quarters in Shillong. In 1934 Shillong became a Diocese. Gradually the Dioceses of Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Silchar were erected and in 1969 Shillong was made a Metropolitan See with these three dioceses as its suffragans, and later more dioceses came into existence.

The bishops of the region used to meet annually or as and when required to address various issues the church faced and to arrive at common approaches to these issues. The beginning of the Northeast Regional Bishops Council (NERBC) can be traced back to 1973. Those present were Archbishop Hubert D’Rosario SDB (Shillong), Bishop Joseph Mittathany (Tezpur), Bishop Denzil D’Souza (Silchar), Bishop Robert Kerketta SDB (Dibrugarh), Bishop Orestes Marengo SDB (Apostolic Administrator, Tura) and Bishop Elect Abraham Alangimatthathil SDB (Kohima). The Meeting elected Archbishop Hubert D’Rosario SDB as Chairman of the NERBC and Bishop Denzil D’Souza as Secretary of the Council.

The Dioceses of Northeast India, at present 15 of them, constitute the NERBC.

Ecclesiastical province of Shillong: Shillong, Tura, Aizawl, Agartala, Jowai and Nogstoin. Ecclesiastical Province of Guwahati: Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Diphu, Bongaigaon, Itanagar and Miao. Ecclesiastical Province of Imphal: Imphal and Kohima For over 25 years the NERBC has been meeting twice a Year – April and September. Since the process of restructuring of the CBCI began in 2009 with a view to empower the Regional Councils of Bishops, efforts have been going on to formulate the necessary Statutes and Guidelines. Steps also have been taken to make the NERBC and its Commissions, Bodies and Centres, more effective.