Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the first-ever Technology Summit of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in New Delhi at Bharat Mandapam, with Shri Jayant Chaudhary as the guest of honour. The summit, held under the theme From IITM. For Bharat. Building Together sought to forge collaborative frameworks linking industry, academia and government to design, develop and deploy technologies for Viksit Bharat. Leadership teams from NTPC Limited (NTPC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and HSBC attended the session.

Shri Pradhan said IIT Madras leads a research-driven, society-linked innovation ecosystem that strengthens collaboration between academia, industry and public purpose while advancing deep tech and frontier research. He cited the Government’s Rs one trillion allocation for Research, Development and Innovation as evidence of intent to scale research capacity and translate knowledge into measurable outcomes. He noted that around 70 per cent of research investment currently comes from the Government and urged a strategic shift towards a balanced 50:50 partnership with industry.

He said the real benchmark of a mature innovation system lies in its ability to convert research into deployable products, scalable technologies and meaningful societal solutions. He described Bharat building as a national mission and said that by 2047, a significant share of the Global South would look towards the Indian development model, placing greater responsibility on research and education institutions. He highlighted initiatives such as Bharat Innovates to align higher education institutions and centrally funded technical institutions for deep tech.

IIT Madras announced strategic partnerships with NTPC, BPCL and HSBC to establish dedicated research centres focused on healthcare technologies and sustainability, and those centres were inaugurated at the summit. Shri Jayant Chaudhary emphasised the role of the IIT ecosystem in catalysing research, strengthening innovation funding and creating pathways for deep technology development, noting advances from cardiovascular research and robotic surgery to semiconductor ecosystems and sovereign AI such as Bodhan AI. An exhibition showcased work from the 15 centres of excellence established under the Institute of Eminence (IoE) framework.