CHENNAI : Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, graced the 67th Institute Day celebrations ofIndian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) held in the campus today (30th April 2026) as its Chief Guest.

Celebrated with students, faculty, alumni, teaching and non-teaching staff, this occasion was also utilized to honour extraordinary achievers among faculty, researchers, students and the alumni.

While the institute scaled numerous heights in the last one year, a major feat was the unparalleled achievement of being ranked No.1 in ‘Overall’ Category for the Seventh Consecutive Year in NIRF Rankings of the Govt. of India and in ‘Engineering Institutions’ category for the Tenth consecutive years – from 2016 to 2025.

The event live stream can be viewed using the following link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcwUWn8HSFg

Prior to his appointment, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran was the Dean of IFMR Graduate School of Business and a distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics at Krea University. He has also been a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India from 2019 to 2021. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Addressing the gathering on topic of ‘Technology, Talent and the Trillion-Dollar Ambition of India’, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran said, “Our current GDP is about $ 3.91 Trillion and in the next six years, we could get to a GDP number of about $7.8 Trillion. Our goal is to reach $30 Trillion by the time we celebrate the centenary of Independence. These are ambitious goals, doubling in six years will take about 12% growth in dollar terms. It is doable but to do so, we need to understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face in a fraught geopolitical environment. In order to achieve this goal, we need to have technological prowess because the world is not going to give it to us.”

Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran added, “We have to generate frontier research in science and engineering. India’s universities and labs must be at the cutting-edge of the global knowledge ecosystem. We have to develop the capacity – and in some pockets, we have it – to acquire external technology and adapt it to Indian conditions, scale and cost constraints. Frugal innovation is India’s strength but the important point is we have to remember that we have to keep at it for the next generation.”

Further highlighting the role of academic institutes like IIT Madras in India’s growth, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran said, “One of the strengths and challenges for India is its scale – 1.45 billion people, rising to close to 1.6 billion people in the next 20 to 30 years. Therefore, anything and everything that we do cannot be simply a sandbox experiment or a pilot phase but it has to be capable of being deployed at scale. Therefore, moving from pilots to patents to economy-wide productivity gains in agriculture, manufacturing, service and governances – That is the challenge in terms of what technological prowess means and that is where premier institutes such as this (IIT Madras) will have a role to play as they approach the centenary of their founding.”

Delivering the Presidential Address, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Institute Day is not merely an occasion to commemorate our journey through decades. It is a moment to reflect on our purpose, celebrate our achievements and renew our commitments to nation building through education, research and service. For the past 67 years, IIT Madras has grown from a young engineering institution into a globally respected centre of excellence. Yet, our greatest strength has remained unchanged – our people. It is the dedication of our faculty, the curiosity of our students, the support of our staff and the trust of our alumni and partners that continue to shape our progress.”

Further, Prof. V. Kamakoti said, “The past year has been particularly significant. One of the defining milestones was the launch of ‘IITM Global’ by Hon’ble External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. This initiative reflects an ambitious vision to make IIT Madras the world’s first multinational university. It represents our belief that knowledge must transcend borders and that Bharat can lead the future of global higher education.”

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Several awards and recognitions, felicitating the students, faculty, non-academic employees and alumni were presented during the occasion. These include the Distinguished Alumnus Awards, Young Alumni Achiever Awards, Distinguished Alumni Service Awards, Non-Academic Employee Recognition Award 2026, Srimathi Marti Annapurna Gurunath Award for Excellence in Teaching – 2026 (to Prof. Ch Srinivasa Rao, Department of Mathematics & Prof. Dhiman Chatterjee, Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Keshav Rangnath Award (to students Mr. Srijith Sasikumar & Mr. Kumar Piyush), to mention the prominent ones.