The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is organising Him-CONNECT on the sidelines of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) World Sustainable Development Summit from 25 to 27 February 2026 in New Delhi. The platform will bring researchers working in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) together with start-ups, investors and policymakers to enable scaling and practical application of research outcomes. The exhibition will be open to visitors on 26 and 27 February.

More than 24 technologies, prototypes, patents and pilot projects developed under the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) will be showcased during Him-CONNECT, and the event is expected to feature over 100 start-ups, incubators, investors and policymakers. NMHS has supported a wide range of locally relevant, science-based innovations, but many of these technologies require structured pathways for commercialisation, deployment and adoption. Him-CONNECT is designed to create a collaborative ecosystem where innovations meet enterprise and where pilot deployments and funding channels can be established.

24 innovators represent premier institutions including Indian Institutes of Technology at Guwahati, Roorkee, Jodhpur, Jammu, Ropar and Mandi, CSIR centres such as Central Road Research Institute and Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Central Agricultural University Imphal and National Institutes of Technology at Silchar and Arunachal Pradesh. Other contributors include Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, University of Kashmir, TERI Guwahati, Kumaon University and G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment. This diversity underlines the breadth of research feeding into practical solutions for the region.

Drawn from over 250 action-oriented initiatives supported by NMHS over the last decade, the exhibition is focused on sectors such as water security, climate adaptation, waste-to-wealth, sustainable building, renewable energy and nature-based livelihoods. Key innovations on display range from eco-friendly road construction and treated wastewater use for hydroponic farming to pine needle-based wastewater treatment systems, decentralised wastewater reuse solutions and yak milk cottage cheese processing technologies. The platform seeks to align science with finance and policy to accelerate climate resilience, green growth and sustainable development from the Himalaya to other fragile mountain regions.