CHENNAI, 4th July 2026: The IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation was launched 5 years ago to help convert advanced research into solutions to help with India's problems. With almost 500 professionals, researchers, and faculty and innovators, as well as a 40,000 sq. ft. innovation ecosystem, and collaboration with government and industry, the Technology Innovation Hub has quickly become one of the leading Technology Innovation Hubs.
'Pravartak Impact Day' on July 3rd of this year marks the 5th Anniversary of the Foundation. The Foundation presented its research and how it has positively impacted society and several different sectors, including the improvement of India's digital security, digital learning, AI and its role in governance and cultural preservation, healthcare, digital security and the future of agriculture, and deep-tech fostering and entrepreneurship.
For the occasion, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, mentioned that translational research and innovation are vital to a country's development and the presence of IITM Pravartak is key in enabling India to reach its Viksit Bharat 2047 goal.
Dr. M. J. Shankar Raman, CEO, IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation, provided further detail on the mission of Technological Hub when he stated:
"Creating an impact has been our goal for the last 5 years. With that in mind, we have worked around the needs of the Nation and collaborated with the potential players to create security solutions, prepare countless individuals to thrive in the upcoming digital economy, restructure AI-supported public agencies, and cultivate deep-tech innovations."
Pravartak Tech Solutions
Pravartak develops tech solutions in line with national objectives. One of the examples is the development of secure communication systems for the Forces, which provide trusted and resilient communication for critical scenarios.
Integrated into the indigenous secure communication ecosystem, these technologies assisted the Forces in critical operations. This is a testament to the importance of advanced indigenous technologies in providing a strategic edge to India.
Pravartak's Human-Centric AI
As part of its initiatives at IITM Pravartak for Human-Centric AI, the aim is to develop AI - systems that augment human capabilities.
Some of the ongoing initiatives are:
- Sovereign AI Language Models for the National Audit Institutions
- AI-based Procurement Intelligence for Government Systems
- Workflow Intelligence for Judicial Institutions
- AI-Driven Screening of Neonatal Congenital Heart Disease for Rural Healthcare
- Defence Procurement Intelligence
- Prison Mental Health Support
- Heritage Restoration
- Immersive Technologies for Preservation of India's Civilisational Legacy
- Facilitating Deep Tech Start-Ups
Since its inception, IITM Pravartak has incubated 58 start-ups; among them, 20 have graduated. In addition, within the deep-tech start-up ecosystem, the robustness of the pipeline is demonstrated through:
- 5 Start-Ups having received Series A or Pre-Series A funding
- 2 Start-Ups having received funding through private placement.
These accomplishments highlight the expanding efforts for deep-tech innovations in IITM Pravartak.
One of the accomplishments is the successful commercialization of technologies by 23 out of the 58 incubated start-ups. This is a substantial accomplishment for the deep-tech innovations and is very promising compared to the average start-up success rate, which is stated to be around 10%.
Skilling
IITM Pravartak has been in operation for 5 years, and in this time they have successfully trained over 24,000 people at the Digital Skills Academy, acquiring:
- 8,000 Students
- 12,000 People from the Workforce
- 2,000 Government Officials
- 2,000 Students from Tier-2 and Tier-3 Cities via CSR
Career advancement has been achieved by over 8,500 people, while 3,000 rural teachers now have the digital skills necessary to improve rural classrooms.
Impact Beyond the Lab
The work of the Foundation goes well beyond the realm of research. The spread of their initiatives is shown by their CSR work in:
- 13 Rural Technology Center
- 189 Rural Interaction Centers in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh
- 4,000+ Students
Various College Collaborations that Feature AI, Cybersecurity, Robotics, and Entrepreneurship
Using Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing, the RASA agriculture platform helps farmers from seed to harvest. The Foundation is dedicated to Technology and Inclusive Development, seen in Rural Assistive Technologies, indigenous cattle conservation, and rural livelihoods projects. IIT Madras Pravartak is also collaborating with top worldwide firms such as Samsung and Accenture. Through CSR, Vertiv has partnered with Pravartak for a nationwide skilling initiative to prepare students for employment in data centers. This directly addresses the need for skilled professionals in India in this field.
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