The Union government has set a new direction for India’s leading technical institutions, asking them to rethink what they teach and how they prepare students for the jobs of the future. Chairing the 13th meeting of the Council of the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER) at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stressed that curriculum design and research must be closely aligned with industry demand and national development goals.
“Our curriculum must be aligned to national priorities,” Pradhan said, underlining the need for engineering and science education to directly support India’s ambitions in emerging technologies. He added that PhD programmes should no longer remain detached from the real economy and must instead be closely linked with industry needs.
To achieve this, the minister proposed the creation of industry-led curriculum committees to help NITs, IISERs and IIESTs redesign courses around new and evolving job roles. Key focus areas identified include artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, semiconductors, quantum technologies, advanced manufacturing and green hydrogen.
Doctoral education also came under focus. Pradhan called for industry-funded and industry-guided PhD programmes, product-oriented research, and linking PhD supervision outcomes to faculty performance. The objective, he said, is to ensure that research contributes meaningfully to economic growth and societal needs.
Quality and accountability were another major theme of the meeting. The minister directed that all NITs and IIESTs should come under the national accreditation framework and complete external peer reviews within a year, calling accreditation essential for maintaining academic standards and public trust.
On the innovation front, the council decided that 13 NITs without incubation centres must establish them, while at least 10 NITs will begin work on dedicated research parks. A national pitching conclave for NIT-incubated start-ups is planned for July 2026 to connect campus innovations with investors.
Pradhan concluded by stating that NITs and IIESTs must evolve into centres of applied research, innovation and workforce development, playing a key role as India works towards its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. The meeting also highlighted the use of Indian languages and AI tools to make technical education more inclusive and accessible.
