IIT Kharagpur Marks 75 Years with a Renewed Vision: From Legacy to Leadership, From Research to Impact
Kharagpur, 18 August 2026: The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur commemorated its 75th Foundation Day today, celebrating an extraordinary journey from the historic Hijli Detention Camp to India’s first IIT and reaffirming its commitment to shaping the next phase of India’s development through education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and societal impact.
The Foundation Day celebrations were graced by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, The Art of Living; Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO; Dr. Kalyan Chakraborty, Minister-in-Charge, Information Technology & Electronics, Government of West Bengal; Prof. Gobardhan Das, Member, NITI Aayog; Shri Pawan Kumar Chandana, CEO, Skyroot Aerospace; and Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur, along with distinguished alumni, faculty members, staff, students and members of the Institute community.
Campus Initiatives Mark the Beginning of Foundation Day
The day began with the unveiling and inauguration of a series of campus initiatives by Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur, in the presence of alumni and members of the Institute community. The initiatives reflected the Institute’s growing focus on smart mobility and student-centric campus development, including the PUBBS e-bicycle sharing service, an app-based campus bus network with AI-enabled demand prediction and real-time scheduling, as well as other infrastructure and amenities aimed at enhancing mobility, well-being, and the overall campus experience.
‘Decode Life’ with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
A major highlight of the day was “Decode Life | In Conversation with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar” at Kalidas Auditorium, chaired by Prof. Suman Chakraborty. The session witnessed an overwhelming response from students and faculty members and brought into focus the importance of balancing technological excellence with mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
Gurudev emphasised the importance of the Art of Living in strengthening students’ mental, physical and emotional health and resilience, and referred to the MoU for supporting student wellness. His interaction touched upon mental wellbeing, balancing left- and right-brain activities, openness of personality, communicating and presenting one’s innovations effectively, and developing the ability to remain flexible rather than becoming stuck in fixed patterns. Drawing upon the principle of “Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam”, he highlighted the importance of excellence, balance and skill in action.
Reflecting on the interaction in his Foundation Day address, Prof. Chakraborty said that while IIT Kharagpur has spent 75 years mastering “outer technologies”, the next journey must also cultivate “wisdom, ethics, compassion and character.”
75th Foundation Day Main Function
The main Foundation Day programme at Netaji Auditorium celebrated the theme of IIT Kharagpur’s journey “From Hijli to the Horizon: Engineering India’s Next Leap.” The programme also featured a special performance by students of DAV Model School commemorating 150 years of Vande Mataram.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. Suman Chakraborty recalled IIT Kharagpur’s unique origins on the soil of Hijli and outlined an ambitious roadmap for its next 75 years.
“We will no longer measure our stature merely by how high IIT Kharagpur rises, but by how many millions rise because IIT Kharagpur exists. We are moving from a centre of excellence to an Ecosystem of Impact—transitioning from knowledge to wisdom, from research that publishes to research that builds, and from the laboratory to the living world.”
The Director outlined a future roadmap anchored in five transformative pillars — People First; Education 5.0; Innovation & Enterprise; Frontier Convergence in Healthcare and Affordable Deep Tech; and Infrastructure and the Campus as a Living Laboratory.
Among the major developments highlighted were 216 faculty selections and 123 fresh recruits; more than 300 postdoctoral fellows joining within six months; the Research Excellence Support Bank and Faculty Research Launch Credit; Staff Development Fund; and the expansion of SETU as an integrated wellbeing ecosystem. The proposed ₹43.38-crore SETU Wellness Centre is envisioned as a 5,345-sq-metre facility supported by the SETU app, round-the-clock psychiatric care, faculty mentors and hall-level wellness volunteers.
On the academic front, the Institute highlighted the proposed Intra-IIT Student Mobility Grid, KRITI initiative for early exposure of school students and young innovators to frontier laboratories, Double Majors, international academic benchmarking, ScOpE and Sports Excellence admission pathways, online programmes including Data Science in Bangla, and initiatives to empower one lakh women across different sectors.
The Institute also announced a strengthened innovation and entrepreneurship architecture, including an Innovation-Centric PhD framework, the IIT Kharagpur–Arc180 Innovation Fellows to PhD Pathway, enhanced startup support and institutional mechanisms connecting research, intellectual property, venture creation and industry.
New Centres, Endowments and Global Initiatives
Several major alumni-supported and frontier research initiatives were highlighted, including the Centre of Excellence for Quantitative Genomic Analytics & Applied Theranostics; Centre of Excellence for AI in Education & Skilling for Next Generation Entrepreneurship; Vikram Sodhi Centre of Excellence for AI-Enabled Geological & Mining Systems; Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Technology for Education, Research and Knowledge Systems (CATER); Imagination Laboratory; and Centre of Excellence for Future-Ready AI Infrastructure. Significant philanthropic commitments towards AI, MedTech, battery storage, education, research and knowledge systems were also announced.
The Institute further outlined the Outreach Course Network, intended to develop structured, credit-compatible partnerships with 200+ colleges; strategic outreach centres in Houston and Dubai; international academic collaborations; and initiatives including Study Bharat, the first Dual-Award PhD cohort with the University of Manchester and a Dual Doctorate initiative with the University of Bordeaux.
Prof. Chakraborty also placed before the community the vision of “Bengal Innovates”, envisaging an end-to-end innovation highway — Discover, Develop, Demonstrate, Deploy, Scale and Globalize — connecting institutions, startups, MSMEs, industry and investment, with IIT Kharagpur seeking to serve as an anchor for a distributed innovation ecosystem across West Bengal.
The distinguished guests, in their addresses, reflected upon IIT Kharagpur’s contribution to nation-building over the past 75 years and the growing role of science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and human-centric education in realising the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.
Honouring Excellence, Service and Philanthropy
As part of the historic 75th Foundation Day, IIT Kharagpur recognised outstanding contributions by its alumni, faculty, staff and well-wishers through a wide spectrum of honours. These included the Hall of Fame Award, Life Fellow Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Distinguished Alumnus Award, Young Alumni Achiever Award, Distinguished Service Award, Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award, Yash Pal Dhawan Academic Excellence Award, Institute Chair Professor recognition, Faculty Excellence Awards, Staff Excellence Awards, Appreciation of Bravery & Courage, Alumni Chair Professor Awards, G. S. Sanyal Faculty Excellence Award, NPTEL Chair Professor and NPTEL Faculty Fellow honours, and the Transformative Philanthropy Recognition Award. Employees completing 25 years of service were also felicitated.
The Platinum Jubilee Foundation Day thus brought together legacy, knowledge, innovation, wellbeing, philanthropy and global engagement, setting the direction for IIT Kharagpur’s next chapter.
Concluding his address, Prof. Chakraborty encapsulated the Institute’s vision:
“75 Years. One Legacy. A Billion Futures.
Rooted in Hijli. Restless for Excellence.
