Union Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman attended the 7th edition of 'IITMAA Sangam', the annual conference of the IIT Madras Alumni Association, organized in Bengaluru. Participating in a special chat with Prof. Rajeev Srinivasan during the event, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed pessimistic narratives suggesting that India’s growth would remain limited to just 2.5%–3%. The minister highlighted that over the past decade, the Indian economy was pulled out of the 'Fragile 5' status, and the banking sector was rejuvenated with support over ₹3 lakh crore. Under the Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) policy, except for 8 strategic sectors, all other fields, including space and nuclear sectors, have been opened up to private participation. The Minister proudly noted that this enabled Indian startups to actively participate in space missions to the extent of manufacturing satellites.

Firmly rejecting reports in foreign media claiming India has "missed the bus" on AI and quantum technology, the Minister stated that evaluating achievements solely based on the number of listed companies on stock exchanges is incorrect. The minister affirmed that India has the potential to achieve 10%+ GDP growth, which is being driven by encouraging innovations like the use of drones and PoS technology in agriculture. By replacing colonial-era laws with the 'Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita' and introducing simplified tax policies, the government is strengthening trust in citizens and entrepreneurs. The minister added that the ministry remains committed to developing appropriate policies and incorporating suggestions to facilitate patient capital for deep-tech hardware startups.

Shri Pralhad Joshi, Honourable Minister of Education, Government of India, said, “IITMAA Sangam 2026 is a key convergence point for technology, academia, industry, entrepreneurship, and public service, supporting India’s journey towards self-reliance and Viksit Bharat 2047. India’s electricity generation capacity has grown from 249 GW in 2014 to 552 GW today, including around 310 GW of non-fossil capacity, while the grid has recently managed a peak demand of 281 GW, with nearly one-third met through renewable energy. This growing infrastructure is enabling technological self-reliance, domestic manufacturing, and innovation. IIT Madras exemplifies this transformation with 560 startups, including 109 incubated in 2025–26, a collective valuation of ₹80,000 crore, 472 patents, and ₹950 crore in alumni contributions. At the heart of Sangam is this same spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat, with discussions spanning AI, defence, infrastructure and other critical areas. This is also part of IITMAA’s larger effort to deepen alumni engagement, with our chapter network growing from 16 to 51 chapters over the past three years. Sangam is ultimately about connecting this powerful IIT Madras community and turning ideas, conversations and relationships into meaningful contributions towards Viksit Bharat.

During the event, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launched the 'IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund-I', an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) jointly initiated by Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) and IIT Madras / IITM Research Park. Following the dialogue, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman also released the book “Cashless Nation: How UPI Changed Everything”, authored by Shri Santanu Paul and Shri B. Sambamurthy.

(L-R) Sridhar Boovaraghavan, President, IITMAA & Chair, IITMAA SANGAM 2026; Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras; Deepak V Naragund, Group CFO, India Assetz; Shri Pralhad Joshi, Honourable Minister of Education, Government of India; Dr. Sridhar Vembu, Chief Scientist & Co-founder, Zoho Corporation; Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean, Alumni & Corporate Relations, Dept. of Civil Engg., IIT Madras.

 

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