At IIT Kanpur’s flagship corporate–academia engagement summit, IITK Samanvay 2025, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked India’s academic institutions and industries to come together to fast track innovation and strengthen the self-reliance drive.
The two-day summit, themed “Igniting Ideas. Accelerating Innovation.”, focused on the future-shaping pillars of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sustainability, and Cybersecurity. It brought together top voices from government, academia and industry to showcase IIT Kanpur as a national hub for technological progress.
CM Yogi’s Vision at Samanvay 2025
As Chief Guest, Yogi Adityanath said innovation is the cornerstone of Viksit Bharat 2047, as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India.
He said India’s self-reliance in med-tech, drones, AI and sustainability requires fast pace:
“A ‘Developed India’ means a self-reliant India. IIT Kanpur must lead in deeptech, quantum computing, drones and AI to make Uttar Pradesh a front runner in New India,” he said.
The Chief Minister also identified cybersecurity as a growing challenge, asked the institute to take national leadership in this area and industries to partner with research institutions to co-develop solutions.
TCS–IIT Kanpur Partnership: Building Smarter Cities
The summit saw a major announcement with the signing of a MoU between Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and IITK’s AIRAWAT Research Foundation.
Dr. Harrick Vin, CTO of TCS, said the partnership will use AI, remote sensing and digital twin technologies to transform urban planning.
Key objectives:
- Create high resolution air quality maps.
- Predict and mitigate urban flooding.
- Enhance green energy efficiency and carbon management.
- Boost waste management and citizen engagement.
“India is at the cusp of redefining urban living. This partnership with IIT Kanpur will lay the foundation for predictive, human-centric urban ecosystems,” Dr. Vin said.## IIT Kanpur’s DeepTech Leadership
Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, said:
“With centers like Wadhwani Center for Developing Intelligent Systems and AIRAWAT Research Foundation, IIT Kanpur is working on solutions for national priorities in AI, cybersecurity and sustainability.”
The summit had three panels:
- Co-Inventing the Future — Translational research in AI, sustainability and cybersecurity with leaders from Mastercard, DXC Technology, Hindustan Petroleum, Hindalco, Jubilant Ingrevia.
- Purpose-Driven Technology — CSR for innovation with Indian Oil, Hindustan Copper, Baker Hughes, JK Paper and others.
- Crafting the Future — How MSMEs can partner with academia to build a self-reliant India with Hans Energy Systems, Qualtech Consultants and Rakan Steels.
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Implications for India’s Innovation Ecosystem
From a market and industry standpoint, the takeaways are clear:
- Policy Backing: With UP’s CM advocating for deeptech and cybersecurity, state-level support could catalyze funding and infrastructure for startups and research clusters.
- Corporate Partnerships: The TCS–IITK MoU exemplifies how industry–academia collaboration is becoming essential in addressing real-world challenges like climate action and urbanization.
- MSME Integration: Bringing MSMEs into the innovation fold could democratize technology adoption, opening new markets and creating competitive supply chains.
A Roadmap Toward Viksit Bharat
As India eyes its ascent to the world’s third-largest economy, IIT Kanpur’s Samanvay 2025 sends a strong message: academia, industry, and governance must jointly power the innovation engine.
By aligning technological leadership with socio-economic goals, the summit underscored that “Aatmnirbharta” is not just about manufacturing independence, but about homegrown innovation that can compete globally.
If the institute and its partners deliver on the bold promises made at Samanvay, Uttar Pradesh could well emerge as the nerve center of India’s deeptech revolution.