Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai hosted its 6th Convocation on 24
October 2026 in Nalanda Hall, in its campus. Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Former Member
NITI Ayog, Former Secretary DDR&D/DG DRDO, & Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri,
Govt. of India, graced the event as the Chief Guest. Prof. Virendra Kumar Vijay, Chairman,
Board of Governors, IIT Bhilai, presided over the ceremony.
The convocation commenced with the Academic Procession. Prof Rajiv Prakash, Director,
IIT Bhilai delivered the welcome address and presented the Director’s Report. Speaking at
the occasion, Prof Prakash highlighted the key achievements of IIT Bhilai in the past year.
He
stated that IIT Bhilai was proud to have established the first IT Park in the state developed as
a collaborative initiative of the Government of Chhattisgarh and IIT Bhilai. With the
inauguration of the IT Park at Civil Lines by Shri Vishnu Deo Sai, the Hon’ble Chief
Minister of Chhattisgarh, the Director said that the institute aims at a transformative journey
to establish a world-class ecosystem for technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, research,
and employment generation in the state. In his report, Prof Prakash also emphasized on the
great strides made by IIT Bhilai in research and development.
IIT Bhilai inked international
MoUs with prestigious overseas universities such as IMT Nord Europe, École Centrale de
Nantes, and Technical University of Graz in the last year. At present with 191 ongoing
projects, the Director stated that the R&D outlay of the institute has risen to ₹ 187 crores. The
Director also said that an AI-powered Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK)—developed by IIT
Bhilai Technology and Innovation Foundation (IBITF) in collaboration with the Samagra
Shiksha initiative of the Government of Chhattisgarh—was dedicated to the state by the
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on March 30, 2025.
Following the Director’s Report, the graduating students of 2025-26 batch were conferred
their degrees. In line with the Government of India’s initiative, Digital India, IIT Bhilai also
awards digital degree certificates to its students, as part of its commitment towards a
sustainable and environmentally friendly operation. Among the 313 students who were
conferred degrees in this convocation there were 19 PhD, 37 MSc, 79 MTech, 08 BTech
(Honours), and 170 BTech students.
Speaking at the occasion, Prof Virendra Kumar Vijay, Chairman Board of Governors,
felicitated all the graduating students. Prof Vijay, who is currently serving as the National
Coordinator of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan under the Ministry of Education, Government of India,
emphasized on the potential for transformation in rural development processes by leveraging
knowledge institutions to build the architecture of an inclusive India. Dr Vijay Kumar
Saraswat the Chief Guest of the convocation congratulated all the graduands. Dr Saraswat’s
address reminded students of their role in nation building. He shared his rich experience of
working at DRDO and NITI Aayog. Quoting Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Dr Saraswat urged all
the young graduands to turn their dreams into building a Viksit Bharat.
The Institute Gold Medal for the BTech student with the highest CGPA was awarded to Ms.
Kriti Arora. The Director’s Gold Medal for Outstanding Female Student conferred to the best
female student with overall academic excellence in BTech, BTech (Honours) and MSc was
awarded to Ms Nidhi Singh. The Director’s Gold Medal for BTech and MTech students
based on their overall performance in both academic and extra-curricular domains were
awarded to Mr Shubham Yogesh Mahajan and Ms Jimlee Patowary respectively. The Senate
awards for students who secured the highest CGPA in different branches in BTech are Ms
Kriti Arora (CSE), Mr Marodkar Vedant Bhalchand (DSAI), Mr Anuj Gupta (EE), Mr
Prashant Malviya (ME), Mr Dhananjay Abbott (MT). The Senate Awards to MSc students
were conferred to Mr Shubhadip Paul (Chemistry), Ms Manvi Tyagi (Mathematics and
Computing), and Mr Anurag Hazra (Physics).
The MTech students who won Senate Awards
include Mr Prajapat Ravindra Himmatbhai (Bioengineering), Mr Arindam Chakraborty
(CSE), Mr Debjit Sarkar (Control and Instrumentation), Mr Byomakesh Panda (DSAI), Mr
Nitesh Singh Bhadauria (DSAI), Mr Nitesh Varshan M (Design and Manufacturing), Mr
Saurav Kumar (Design and Manufacturing), Ms. Basitti Ranjita (EVT), Mr Debajyoti De
(EC), Ms Jimlee Patowary (MSME), Mr Yajour Kichenamourty (Mechatronics), Mr Vivek
Kumar Soni (PSPE), and Mr Anupam Kumar Singh (Thermal and Fluids Engineering). The
convocation concluded on a note of deep fulfillment and pride for the graduates as they are
all set to make a mark of their own and shape the future.