IIT Indore to launch first-of-its-kind sustainability BTech, sharpens research-led innovation push

Indore: IIT Indore will introduce two new undergraduate programmes from the July 2026 academic session, including a first-of-its-kind BTech in environmental economics and sustainable engineering with 20 seats, as the institute strengthens its focus on climate, healthcare and data-driven technologies, said IIT-I director Suhas Joshi.The sustainability programme will centre on three core verticals, energy, water and climate systems, and environmental economics, aiming to prepare engineers who can integrate technology with policy and resource governance.
The second programme, BTech in biomedical engineering and data science, will offer 30 seats and focus on health informatics, artificial intelligence in healthcare and advanced health-data analytics, reflecting the deepening convergence of medicine, engineering and big-data science."The BTech combining environmental economics with sustainable engineering responds directly to climate and resource challenges. Students will be trained in sustainable materials, mobility, water systems, systems modelling and data-driven decision-making so that engineering solutions remain economically viable and environmentally resilient," Joshi said.In NIRF 2025, IIT Indore ranked 27th overall, improving from 30th last year, 24th in research from 27 earlier, and 12th among engineering institutes compared with 16 previously,Joshi said India's proposed Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation scheme would be crucial for enabling high-risk, high-reward work in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology and clean energy."To emerge as a global innovation leader by 2047, India must adopt a pyramidal R&D funding architecture where 30 to 40 per cent funding supports exploratory research across a wide base of institutions, while leading institutes mentor Tier-II and Tier-III centres to build distributed national capacity," he said.At IIT Indore, research groups are working on antimicrobial nanomaterials, novel drug-delivery systems, smart materials, energy storage and self-powered wearable technologies with applications in healthcare, defence and remote energy access. Parallel work in agri-tech, sustainability and resource-efficient technologies aims to generate scalable solutions for climate-vulnerable and rural regions.The institute is also deepening industry integration. After launching executive education programmes with Volvo Eicher and Case New Holland in upskilling, leadership and technology transition, IIT Indore plans to extend similar collaborations to the IT and pharmaceutical sectors."IITs in tier-2 regions are deliberate instruments of spatially balanced innovation," Joshi said. "Our goal is to ensure India's knowledge economy grows wider and deeper, with research that directly serves society."