The IIT-Madras summit 2026 held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi offered a platform uniting leaders from the government, industries and academia to co-create tech-led pathways for India’s development. Inaugurated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, under the theme ‘From IITM. For Bharat. Building Together’, the IIT Madras Technology Summit 2026 aimed to build a collaborative framework for industry-academia-government partnerships to design, develop, and deploy technologies that will shape India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. Commending IIT Madras for organising this Technology Summit, Pradhan said, “India’s innovation ecosystem is at a crucial turning point. Institutions like IIT Madras have been given mandates as responsible bodies to drive research through Centres of Excellence, reflecting the Government’s strong commitment to strengthening research infrastructure. However, priorities are now shifting. Research should not remain confined to academic theses, but it must translate into real-world products and solutions. India’s talent pool is already leading globally in many ways, but the time has come to reform and modernise the entire innovation process.” The summit showcased research and innovation from IIT Madras through its 15 Centres of Excellence, research initiatives and interdisciplinary schools. IIT Madras has emerged as a leader in fostering industry–academia collaboration through its strong research ecosystem that is focused on delivering National impact. Under the Government of India’s ‘Institute of Eminence’ (IoE) scheme, the institute has established 15 Centres of Excellence and mobilised over ₹950 crore in research funding. These efforts have resulted in more than 240 patents and the creation of over 40 deep-tech startups in the past seven years. The time has come to move beyond measuring progress only through citations, patents and IPOs. The real benchmark of a mature innovation system lies in its ability to convert research into deployable products, scalable technologies and meaningful societal solutions. “Bharat... pic.twitter.com/SAzZuuDJlG — Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) May 5, 2026 ‘INVEST & INNOVATE LOCALLY’ While addressing the media on the existing gaps in the Indian Innovation sector, Pradhan said, “Why are we not innovating enough within our own country? Science and technology must move to the forefront of national development, with a human-centric approach that brings tangible benefits to society. India has immense potential to lead globally, especially through its premier institutions like the IITs. Significant investments such as a proposed ₹1 lakh crore fund for research and development, are being directed toward the private sector and startups.” “Many successful startups and unicorns have already emerged from IIT campuses, highlighting the strength of this ecosystem. Despite this, there is a gap. Much of the technology developed by Indian talent abroad is being purchased back by Indian industries from foreign markets. This indicates a need to build and invest in our own products domestically. With a strong internal market, India has the advantage of being both producer and consumer,” he said. TECHNOLOGY FOR BHARAT: SUMMIT VISION Director Prof. V. Kamakoti said, “The IIT Madras Technology Summit 2026 is a call to action for industry, corporate firms, and academia, including institutions like IIT Madras, to come together to build Bharat’s future. Today, IIT Madras is at the forefront of research and innovation through our IoE CoEs and other centres driving high-impact research with significant patents, funding, publications, and startups. IIT Madras has a pivotal role to play as the Nation gears up for the next phase of work towards a Viksit Bharat. Through this Summit, we reiterate our commitment to the Nation — to rally collaborations and partnerships with industry, corporates, and policymakers, and to fast-track our journey towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047.” In addition, IIT Madras announced Bodhan AI, a Centre of Excellence for AI in Education, incubated as a Section 8 company and supported by the Ministry of Education. The initiative is building the Bharat EduAI Stack, a sovereign digital public infrastructure for education, with a national mission to train over 1 million teachers in AI-enabled teaching by 2027. WHAT IS BHARAT INNOVATES? Bharat Innovates is a national programme of the Ministry of Education. It is designed as a global accelerator for innovations from Indian Higher Education Ecosystem (HEIs), thereby, building a long-term collaboration bridge between India’s innovation ecosystem (startups, HEIs, labs and research parks) and global stakeholders (corporates, investors, incubators/accelerators, universities, research institutes, governments, and overseas alumni). The maiden edition, Bharat Innovates 2026, takes India’s top 120 DeepTech startups to France to catalyse pilots, co-development, investments, research partnerships, manufacturing and market access. Bharat Innovates 2026 was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 17, 2026, at the inauguration of the India-France Year of Innovation, extending an invitation to global leaders, CEOs, investors and universities to collaborate with India’s innovation ecosystem. The invitation was graciously accepted by the French President. Announcing the upcoming Bharat Innovates programme to be held in France, the Pradhan said, “Next month, India is going to organise a very large exhibition of India’s deep technology in Nice, France. The country’s respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, will both be present at its inauguration...”