The announcement came shortly after IIT Madras topped the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025. Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, said the institute must take greater responsibility after retaining the No. 1 position in the Engineering category for the 10th consecutive year and in the Overall category for the 7th year in a row. “For India to emerge as a superpower, we need patents and start-ups in the names of our citizens,” he said.
In 2024–25, IIT Madras incubated more than 100 start-ups and filed 417 patents, surpassing its ambitious target of “One Patent a Day.” The newly launched School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship will support deep-tech ventures with a dedicated start-up fund.
On the sustainability front, IIT Madras secured the top rank in the newly introduced SDG category in the NIRF 2025 rankings. The institute had already established a School of Sustainability in 2023. “All research and projects will be aligned with India’s UN commitments. Sustainability is not an option but an obligation to the next generation,” Kamakoti emphasized.
The third focus area is expanding access to higher education. Through the Vidya Shakti project, IIT Madras is collaborating with government school students to improve inclusivity. Tamil Nadu’s GER is currently around 50 percent, and the institute aims to help raise it further by supporting first-generation learners.
He also highlighted several other milestones of the institute: the launch of IITM Zanzibar — the first offshore campus of any IIT; new admission categories recognizing excellence in sports, fine arts, and culture; and an improved global standing, rising from 227 to 180 in the QS World University Rankings 2026.
Earlier in the day, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who released the NIRF results in New Delhi, noted that India has increased higher education enrolment from under 3.5 crore students in 2014–15 to over 4.5 crore now, with a target of 9 crore by 2030.
