India’s aspirations of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047 will not be driven by policy alone. They will be powered by research translated into real-world impact, industry working hand-in-hand with academia, and innovation ecosystems that scale solutions for millions. At IIT Madras, these themes came alive through a powerful series of panel discussions, expert talks, and showcase sessions that brought together leaders from government, industry, finance, healthcare, deep tech, and academia to chart a roadmap for India’s future.

The Technology Showcase and Impact Showcase together reflected a central idea: India’s next era of growth will emerge from collaborative ecosystems where universities, corporations, startups, and policymakers work in concert to solve national and global challenges.

From sustainability and semiconductors to AI, healthcare innovation, deep-tech entrepreneurship, and strategic CSR partnerships, the conversations highlighted how IIT Madras is positioning itself at the intersection of research excellence and societal transformation.

Scalable Solutions for a Sustainable Future

The opening panel discussion focused on one of the defining challenges of our time: how India can scale sustainable technologies rapidly enough to meet its energy transition and net-zero goals while ensuring inclusive economic growth.

Moderated by Prof. Rajnish Kumar, Head – School of Sustainability, IIT Madras, the panel brought together distinguished leaders from finance, energy, and policy:

1. Shri Himanshu Nivsarkar, Kotak Mahindra Bank
2. Smt. Aloka Majumdar, HSBC India
3. Mr. Pushp Kumar Nayar, BPCL
4. Mr. Anuj Gupta, BowerGroupAsia

The discussion explored how sustainability can no longer remain confined to pilot projects or isolated innovations. Panellists emphasised the importance of large-scale deployment models, blended financing, and cross-sector partnerships that allow promising technologies to move beyond laboratories and into widespread implementation.

A recurring theme was the need for academia and industry to co-invest in long-term sustainability research, especially solutions tailored for India and the Global South. From renewable energy and carbon reduction technologies to green infrastructure and sustainable mobility, the panel highlighted that scalable impact will require patient capital, supportive regulation, and deep collaboration between institutions.

Building Bharat’s Semiconductor Ecosystem

Few sectors today carry as much strategic significance as semiconductors. The second panel, Building Bharat’s Semiconductor Ecosystem: Design, Fabrication & Talent, examined India’s ambition to become a global semiconductor powerhouse.

The session opened with a keynote address by Shri S. Krishnan IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), who underscored the national importance of developing a domestic semiconductor ecosystem spanning design, manufacturing, supply chains, and talent development.

The panel featured:

1. Shri Santhosh Kumar, Texas Instruments India
2. Shri Anil Gupta, Lam Research India
3. Shri Sreenivas Subramoney, NVIDIA
4. Shri Amardeep Punhani, NXP Semiconductors

The discussion was moderated by Prof. Sankaran Aniruddhan, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras.

The panellists highlighted that semiconductors underpin nearly every modern technology sector — from defence and telecommunications to electric vehicles, AI, and consumer electronics. India’s push for self-reliance in this domain, they noted, is not merely economic but strategic.

The conversation focused on the need for India to move beyond chip design capabilities toward full-stack fabrication and manufacturing. Equally critical was the urgent requirement for specialised talent. Panellists stressed that academia must evolve rapidly, redesign curricula, strengthen industry integration, and create interdisciplinary learning pathways that prepare students for emerging semiconductor technologies and manufacturing ecosystems.

Startup Nation, Deep Tech Future

India’s startup story is increasingly moving beyond software services toward deep-tech innovation rooted in scientific research. The panel on Startup Nation, Deep Tech Future: Building Scalable Innovation Ecosystems explored how India can nurture globally competitive deep-tech enterprises.

Moderated by Prof. Satya Seshadri, Head – School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, IIT Madras, the panel featured:

1. Shri Rajiv C. Lochan, Sundaram Finance
2. Shri Bhaskar Majumdar, Unicorn India Ventures
3. Shri Shankar Vanavarayar, Sakthi Group

The discussion centred on how breakthrough research emerging from universities can be transformed into scalable products and companies. Panellists highlighted that deep-tech startups require a fundamentally different support ecosystem compared to conventional startups, including patient funding, access to research infrastructure, mentorship, regulatory support, and sustained industry partnerships.

The conversation reinforced the idea that India’s innovation economy will increasingly depend on its ability to commercialise indigenous research and create globally differentiated technologies capable of addressing complex societal challenges.

Healthcare Technology Innovation at Scale

One of the most compelling sessions of the showcase was the expert talk by Prof. S. Mohanasankar, Faculty Head – Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre & Brain Centre, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras.

His presentation offered a glimpse into the remarkable scale and impact of IIT Madras’ healthcare innovation ecosystem:

1. Over 150 engineers and doctors collaborating across disciplines
2. Participation from 4 departments and 3 Institutes of Eminence Centres of Excellence
3. A network of 60+ startups, 30 industry partners, and 20 hospitals

The ecosystem’s innovations have already reached nearly 20 million patients globally through deployed technologies.

Prof. Mohanasankar highlighted several landmark initiatives, including:

1. 3nethra, now deployed across 50 countries
2. iQuant, operating in 60 countries
3. A mobile eye surgical unit that has enabled more than 35,000 surgeries

A major highlight of the session was the work of the Brain Centre, which has achieved a global-first milestone by creating more than 100 human brain maps at cellular resolution. These maps are expected to be released as a global scientific reference during India’s 80th Independence Anniversary celebrations.

The talk demonstrated how IIT Madras is building healthcare technologies that combine cutting-edge research with large-scale social impact.

Funding the Future of Research

Sustained research excellence requires sustained investment. The panel discussion on Funding the Future: Corporate India’s Role in Research Ecosystems examined how corporations can become long-term partners in India’s research journey.

The session began with a keynote address by Mr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO – ANRF, who spoke about the need for mission-oriented research funding models and stronger collaboration between academia, industry, and government.

Moderated by Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean – Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research, IIT Madras, the panel included:

1. Shri Vijay Sankar, The Sanmar Group
2. Cdr. Vasudev Puranik IN (Retd.), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders
3. Shri R. Venkataramanan, Karkinos Healthcare
4. Shri Uday Prakash, Herbalife International India

The discussion challenged the traditional notion of CSR as a compliance exercise and instead positioned corporate engagement as a strategic enabler of national innovation ecosystems.

Panellists reflected on how long-term investments in research can generate societal value, industrial competitiveness, and technological leadership. The conversation also explored how collaborative models between corporations and institutions like IIT Madras can accelerate translational research and strengthen India’s scientific capabilities.

AI, India and the Future of Enterprise

Artificial Intelligence emerged as another major theme of the showcase through an expert talk by Prof. Mitesh Khapra, Department of Data Science & AI, IIT Madras; PI/Head for AI4Bharat and Bodhan.AI.

Prof. Khapra explored how AI is evolving beyond productivity enhancement into autonomous, agentic systems capable of transforming enterprise operations, customer engagement, and decision-making at scale.

A major focus of the talk was the need for India to build its own AI stack designed specifically for multilingual, voice-first, and cost-sensitive environments. He highlighted IIT Madras and AI4Bharat’s pioneering efforts in developing foundational AI infrastructure, language models, and public digital platforms such as Bodhan AI.

The session underscored the importance of inclusive AI innovation that can scale across India’s linguistic and socio-economic diversity while supporting applications in education, governance, and industry.

Skilling for the AI Economy

As AI reshapes industries, the demand for future-ready talent is rising rapidly. The panel discussion on Skilling for the AI Economy: What Industry Needs from Academia focused on the urgent need to align education with evolving industry expectations.

Moderated by Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean – Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research, IIT Madras, the panel featured:

1. Ms. Preeti Lobana, Google India
2. Shri Arun Karna, AT&T India
3. Dr. Abhilasha Gaur, NASSCOM
4. Shri Amandeep Singh Juneja, American Express India

Panellists discussed the widening gap between industry demand and existing educational models. Beyond technical expertise, they stressed the growing importance of interdisciplinary thinking, adaptability, problem-solving, and continuous learning.

The discussion reinforced that preparing India’s workforce for an AI-driven economy will require significant curricular reforms, deeper academia-industry collaboration, and new approaches to experiential learning.

IMPACT SHOWCASE

From Lab to Launch: Translational Tech Startups

The Startup Showcase celebrated the success of IIT Madras startups that have transformed cutting-edge academic research into impactful enterprises.

The session opened with a keynote by Prof. Nicolas Gascoin, Deputy Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Director of the French Institute in India (IFI), French Embassy in India, New Delhi.

Moderated by Prof. Preeti Aghalayam, Dean – Global Engagement, IIT Madras, the showcase featured three pioneering faculty-led startups:

1. The ePlane Company — represented by Prof. Satya Chakravarthi and Ms. Nithyashree Sathyanarayanan
2. XYMA Analytics — represented by Prof. Krishnan Balasubramaniam and Dr. Nishanth Raja
3. Neomotion — represented by Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan and Shri Swostik Sourav Dash

Each startup demonstrated how IIT Madras research is translating into market-ready innovation.

From electric aviation and industrial ultrasonics to assistive mobility technologies, the showcased ventures reflected the breadth of deep-tech innovation emerging from the institute and the growing maturity of India’s translational research ecosystem.

Reimagining CSR for India’s Future

The concluding Partner Showcase focused on the transformative potential of CSR when aligned with research, innovation, and long-term societal outcomes.

Moderated by Mr. Kaviraj Nair, CEO – Office of Institutional Advancement, IIT Madras, the panel featured:

1. Shri Bibhuti Ranjan Pradhan, Indian Oil Corporation Limited
2. Shri Saurabh Sharma, Hyundai Motor India Limited
3. Shri Kumar Anurag Pratap, Capgemini
4. Shri Rathin Lahiri, SBI General Insurance
5. Shri Manjush Mathews, Indus Towers

The discussion explored how leading PSUs and private corporations are partnering with IIT Madras to move beyond transactional CSR models toward strategic, technology-driven social impact initiatives.

Panellists highlighted how purpose-led collaborations can accelerate innovation, support inclusive growth, and create measurable societal outcomes. The session reinforced the idea that CSR, when integrated with research ecosystems, can become a powerful force multiplier for national development.

A Shared Vision for Viksit Bharat

Across every session, one message emerged clearly: India’s future will be built through collaboration.

Whether through sustainable technologies, semiconductor manufacturing, AI ecosystems, healthcare innovation, deep-tech entrepreneurship, or mission-driven CSR partnerships, the discussions showcased a growing convergence between academia, industry, and government.

At the centre of this convergence stands IIT Madras — not only as a premier academic institution, but as a catalyst for innovation ecosystems that translate research into scalable impact for India and the world.