Sri Sri Ravi Shankar unveils teaser of book on IIT ecosystem at PanIIT Bangalore Summit 2026
Bengaluru : Spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar unveiled the official teaser of IIT: The Story of India’s Most Prestigious Educational Ecosystem, an upcoming non‑fiction book by Prabhat Kumar IRS, Chairman, Pan IIT Alumni India, at the Pan IIT Bangalore Summit 2026 at Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru, on May 16. The summit brought together IIT alumni, students, startup founders, policymakers and industry leaders around the theme “Sovereignty in Technology.”
The book, to be published by HarperCollins India on 20 June 2026, documents the evolution of the IIT system from its early years after Independence to its current role in technology, entrepreneurship, research and public policy. Using the tagline “From Silicon Valley to Indus Valley”, it sets the IIT story in the wider context of India’s economic and social change.
The teaser was released during Gurudev’s address to an audience that included senior policymakers, corporate executives and IIT alumni from different batches. Gurudev extended his blessings to the IITs and their alumni, characterising them as contributors to nation‑building and stressing the need to combine technical capability with a concern for society.
The book traces the conversion of the former prison at Hijli, Kharagpur, into India’s first IIT in 1951 and follows the system’s expansion to 23 institutes and a global alumni base of more than 500,000. It looks at entrance examinations and coaching, academic and hostel life, research, career paths in India and overseas, entrepreneurship and startups. The material is aimed at IIT aspirants and their parents, current students, alumni and readers interested in the history and present role of these institutions. The narrative also touches on current debates around access, regional and gender diversity, mental health, and the movement of graduates between India and other countries.
The author positions the work as an updated account of IITs in the present decade. It builds on earlier books about IITs but extends the period covered to include newer campuses and recent policy and social changes. The book treats IITs as part of a broader public‑education project, describing how students from different backgrounds share the same classrooms and laboratories and how this has influenced both professional outcomes and public discourse. It also includes examples of alumni who have gone into areas such as social enterprise, climate and environmental work and public administration, in addition to corporate and startup roles. Written from the perspective of the current chairman of Pan IIT Alumni India, it combines data, institutional history and personal accounts to examine how the IIT network has developed since the 1950s and how it may evolve further.
“From the first campus at Hijli to 23 IITs and a global alumni network building Viksit Bharat 2047, the IIT story is not just about an exam or a degree. It is about how India chose to bet on knowledge, science and young people,” said Prabhat Kumar.
“As both an IITian and the chairman of the Pan IIT Alumni Association, Prabhat Kumar offers a vantage point in narrating the story of IIT – one of the world’s most influential technical education ecosystems,” said Sachin Sharma, Associate Publisher at HarperCollins India. “This book takes readers from Kharagpur, where it started, to Silicon Valley and major Indian startup hubs, where the impact of IIT alumni is widely visible.”
The teaser is available on the digital channels of Pan IIT Alumni India and the author. Pre‑orders have opened on Amazon, and the book will be available after publication through major online platforms and bookstores across India.