IIT-Madras is country’s top innovative educational institute for 2nd straight year – Times of India

CHENNAI: The Centre has ranked Indian Institute of Technology Madras the top innovative educational institute for the second consecutive year.
The institute has retained number one position in Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) in institutions of national importance, central universities and centrally funded technical institutions category. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu announced the rankings at a virtual event on Tuesday.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Odisha, bagged the top spot among private universities, followed by SRM Institute of Science and Technology and Vellore Institute of Technology, both in Tamil Nadu.
Among government and governmentaided colleges, Coimbatore Institute of Technology got third place and among private colleges, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology in Coimbatore got second place.
“Self-reliance requires us to innovate and to seek implementable solutions for developmental challenges,” Naidu said, calling upon other institutes to double their efforts.
Union minister for education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said innovation would be the foundation stone for the new India which will be self-reliant. “The rankings aim at acknowledging the efforts of institutes which are coming up with new innovations and bridging the gap between industry and innovation,” he said.
This year, ARIIA studied 674 educational institutions and universities primarily on innovation-related indicators. It aims at inspiring Indian institutions to reorient mindsets and build ecosystems to encourage high quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
IIT-Madras excelled in ARIIA owing to its strong entrepreneurial ecosystem that encourages students to become job-generators, the institute’s director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said. “IIT-Madras has already produced world-class companies and disruptive technologies for India. We are proud to be recognized a second time in succession as India’s top innovative educational institution under ARIIA,” he added.
While IIT-Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) handles startups, there are other innovation platforms for students even before they graduate. They include preincubator Nirmaan,Centre for Innovation (CFI), which allows students to “walk in with an idea and walk out with a product”, and Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship that grooms aspiring entrepreneurs.