Raipur, October 24: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai held its sixth convocation ceremony on Saturday. Former NITI Aayog member and former DRDO Secretary Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat attended the event as the chief guest.
Board of Governors Chairman Prof. Virendra Kumar Vijay presided over the ceremony, which began with an academic procession. IIT Bhilai Director Prof. Rajiv Prakash delivered the welcome address and presented the annual report, highlighting the institute’s major achievements over the past year.
Prof. Prakash stated that the institute had established Chhattisgarh’s first IT Park in Civil Lines, Raipur, through a joint initiative with the state government. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai inaugurated the facility.
The project aims to develop an ecosystem for technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, research, and employment generation. Highlighting the institute’s research achievements, Prof. Prakash said that its research and development (R&D) outlay has increased to ₹187 crore, covering 191 ongoing projects.
The institute has also established international academic partnerships with renowned global institutions, including IMT Nord Europe, École Centrale de Nantes, and the Technical University of Graz.
On March 30, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated an Artificial Intelligence-powered Vidya Samiksha Kendra to Chhattisgarh. The centre was developed by the IIT Bhilai Technology and Innovation Foundation in collaboration with the state government’s Samagra Shiksha initiative.
The convocation ceremony continued with the awarding of degrees to the 2025–26 graduating batch. In support of the Digital India initiative and paperless operations, the institute issued digital degree certificates to graduating students.
A total of 313 students received degrees, including 19 PhDs, 37 MSc degrees, 79 MTech degrees, 8 BTech (Honours) degrees, and 170 BTech degrees.
Addressing the graduating students, Prof. Virendra Kumar Vijay congratulated them on their achievements. He highlighted the role of educational institutions in rural development, drawing on his experience as the national coordinator for Unnat Bharat Abhiyan under the Union Ministry of Education.
Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat urged graduates to contribute to nation-building. Drawing from his experience at DRDO and NITI Aayog, he referred to the vision of former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and encouraged students to work towards building a Viksit Bharat.
Gold Medals and Academic Honours
Several students received prestigious academic and leadership awards during the ceremony.
Kriti Arora received the Institute Gold Medal for securing the highest CGPA among BTech students. Nidhi Singh was awarded the Director’s Gold Medal for Overall Academic Excellence, recognising the top female student across the BTech, BTech (Honours), and MSc programmes.
Shubham Yogesh Mahajan and Jimlee Patowary received the Director’s Gold Medals for All-Round Performance in academics and extracurricular activities among BTech and MTech students, respectively.
Senate Awards for BTech Students
The Senate Awards for the highest CGPA in respective BTech branches were presented to:
- Kriti Arora – Computer Science and Engineering
- Marodkar Vedant Bhalchand – Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Anuj Gupta – Electrical Engineering
- Prashant Malviya – Mechanical Engineering
- Dhananjay Abbott – Materials Technology
Senate Awards for MSc Students
The Senate Awards for MSc students were presented to:
- Shubhadip Paul – Chemistry
- Manvi Tyagi – Mathematics and Computing
- Anurag Hazra – Physics
Senate Awards for MTech Students
The following students received Senate Awards for their academic achievements in various MTech programmes:
- Prajapat Ravindra Himmatbhai – Bioengineering
- Arindam Chakraborty – Computer Science and Engineering
- Debjit Sarkar – Control and Instrumentation
- Byomakesh Panda – Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Nitesh Singh Bhadauria – Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Nitesh Varshan M – Design and Manufacturing
- Saurav Kumar – Design and Manufacturing
- Basitti Ranjita – Electric Vehicle Technology
- Debajyoti De – Electronics and Communication
- Jimlee Patowary – Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering
- Yajour Kichenamourty – Mechatronics
- Vivek Kumar Soni – Power Systems and Power Electronics
- Anupam Kumar Singh – Thermal and Fluids Engineering
The ceremony celebrated the academic accomplishments of the graduating students and highlighted IIT Bhilai’s growing contributions to research, technological innovation, international academic collaboration, and national development.
