Author – Ritesh Ranjan: IIT Madras has taken another major step towards strengthening India’s deep-tech research ecosystem with the launch of three industry-powered centres focused on healthcare, robotic surgery and sustainable energy. Backed by NTPC, BPCL and HSBC, these centres are designed to support indigenous innovation, accelerate product development and address some of India’s most urgent national challenges.
The announcement was made at the first-ever IIT Madras Technology Summit in Delhi. The centres were inaugurated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, highlighting the growing importance of academic-industry partnerships in building future-ready technologies for India.
The three newly launched centres are the NTPC Centre for Cardiovascular Research, the BPCL Centre for Next-Gen Technologies for Robotic Assisted Surgeries, also known as YANTRAS, and the HSBC Centre for Resource Efficiency, Recyclability & Circularity in Energy Transition. Together, they represent IIT Madras’ expanding role as a national innovation hub working at the intersection of research, technology and public impact.
A Major Push for India-Specific Heart Research
The NTPC Centre for Cardiovascular Research has been established with support from NTPC Limited. Its primary goal is to tackle India’s growing burden of cardiovascular disease through advanced research, indigenous medical technology and clinical translation.
Heart disease remains one of the leading health challenges in India. While global research has made significant progress, India needs solutions designed for its own population, healthcare conditions and risk patterns. This is where the new centre can make a meaningful difference.
The centre will focus on identifying India-specific genetic risk factors linked to heart disease. Such research can help doctors and scientists understand why certain populations may be more vulnerable to cardiovascular conditions. Over time, this could support better prevention, early diagnosis and personalised treatment.
Another major area of work will be digital twin-based cardiac simulations. A digital twin is a virtual model of a patient’s heart or medical condition. Doctors can use this model to study how the heart may respond to different treatments before applying them in real life. This can make diagnosis more precise and treatment planning safer.
For cardiovascular care, digital twin technology can be especially powerful. It may help doctors test interventions, understand individual patient risks and reduce complications during treatment. By combining clinical data, imaging and computational modelling, digital twins can support non-invasive diagnostics and personalised care.
The centre will also support rural healthcare delivery and work towards building a national cardiac biobank. This is important because many patients in rural India face delays in diagnosis and treatment due to limited access to specialised care. If advanced tools can be made affordable and scalable, they could improve outcomes for a much larger population.
Another key goal is to reduce India’s dependence on imported medical devices. Indigenous medical device development can lower costs, improve accessibility and create technologies that are better suited to Indian hospitals and patients.
YANTRAS: Building the Future of Robotic Surgery in India
The second major centre, supported by BPCL, is the Centre for Next-Gen Technologies for Robotic Assisted Surgeries, known as YANTRAS. This centre will focus on robotic-assisted surgeries in areas such as joint, spine and neuro procedures.
Robotic surgery is one of the most advanced areas of modern healthcare. It allows surgeons to perform complex procedures with greater precision, improved control and smaller incisions. This can lead to faster recovery, reduced pain and better surgical outcomes for patients.
The YANTRAS centre is equipped with 34 advanced systems that will support training, simulation, validation and product development. This makes it a crucial platform not only for research but also for preparing the next generation of surgeons and medical technology innovators.
One of the most important goals of the centre is to support indigenous product development in surgical robotics. Currently, many robotic surgery systems are expensive and imported. This limits their availability, especially in smaller hospitals and public healthcare settings. India needs locally developed systems that are affordable, adaptable and reliable.
YANTRAS can help bridge this gap by supporting startups, researchers and medical professionals working on robotic surgical solutions. The centre can become a space where new devices are tested, validated and improved before they are deployed in real clinical settings.
Robotic surgery also has strong potential when combined with artificial intelligence, haptics and digital twin planning. AI can help analyse surgical data, haptics can improve touch-based feedback for surgeons, and digital twins can help plan procedures in advance. Together, these technologies could transform complex surgeries such as spinal and neurological operations.
By building capabilities in this field, IIT Madras and BPCL are helping India move closer to medical self-reliance in one of the most demanding areas of healthcare technology.
Clean Energy with Circular Thinking
The third centre, backed by HSBC, is the Centre for Resource Efficiency, Recyclability & Circularity in Energy Transition. Its mission is to develop technologies and systems that support India’s clean energy transition while making better use of resources.
As India moves towards a lower-carbon economy, the demand for renewable energy, electric mobility and sustainable manufacturing will continue to grow. However, clean energy technologies also require materials, minerals, batteries and large-scale infrastructure. If these resources are not managed efficiently, they can create new environmental and economic challenges.
This is where circularity becomes important. A circular economy focuses on keeping materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, recycling and recovery. Instead of discarding resources after one cycle, circular systems try to extract maximum value from them.
The HSBC-supported centre will work on scalable and accessible solutions for resource efficiency. This may include improving material recovery, reducing waste, designing recyclable systems and developing business models that support long-term resource use.
For sectors such as power, manufacturing and mobility, circularity can reduce costs and environmental impact. It can also make India’s energy transition more secure by lowering dependence on newly extracted raw materials.
The centre’s work aligns with India’s climate goals and the broader need for sustainable growth. By developing technologies that make clean energy more affordable and less resource-intensive, IIT Madras can contribute to both economic development and environmental protection.
Why These Centres Matter for India
The launch of these three centres shows how universities can become engines of national transformation when they collaborate with industry. Each centre addresses a major challenge: heart disease, advanced surgical capability and sustainable energy transition.
What makes these centres especially important is their focus on practical impact. They are not limited to academic research alone. They combine research, product development, training, startup support and real-world deployment. This approach can help move innovations from the laboratory to hospitals, industries and communities.
IIT Madras has already built a strong reputation in engineering, biomedical research, digital health and deep-tech innovation. These new centres strengthen that legacy and connect it to India’s larger priorities, including affordable healthcare, medical self-reliance, clean energy and climate resilience.
The Technology Summit also saw the launch of Bodhan AI, a Centre of Excellence supported by the Ministry of Education. Bodhan AI will build the Bharat EduAI Stack and aims to train over one million teachers in AI-enabled teaching by 2027. This reflects IIT Madras’ broader vision of not just creating advanced technologies, but also building the talent and education ecosystem needed to use them effectively.
Conclusion
With support from NTPC, BPCL and HSBC, IIT Madras is creating a powerful platform for innovation in healthcare, surgery and sustainable energy. The NTPC Centre for Cardiovascular Research can help improve heart care through India-specific research and digital twin technology. The BPCL-backed YANTRAS centre can advance robotic surgery and support indigenous medical robotics. The HSBC-supported circular energy centre can strengthen India’s clean energy transition through resource efficiency and recyclability.
Together, these initiatives show how academic excellence and industry collaboration can address real-world problems at scale. For India, this could mean better health outcomes, smarter surgical systems, stronger clean-energy technologies and a more self-reliant innovation ecosystem.
FAQs
1. What are the three new centres launched by IIT Madras?
IIT Madras has launched the NTPC Centre for Cardiovascular Research, the BPCL Centre for Next-Gen Technologies for Robotic Assisted Surgeries, also called YANTRAS, and the HSBC Centre for Resource Efficiency, Recyclability & Circularity in Energy Transition.
2. Who are the industry partners supporting these IIT Madras centres?
The three centres are supported by NTPC Limited, BPCL and HSBC. Each partner is backing a centre focused on a specific national priority: heart health, robotic surgery and clean-energy circularity.
3. What will the NTPC Centre for Cardiovascular Research focus on?
The NTPC Centre will focus on cardiovascular disease research, India-specific genetic risk factors, digital twin-based cardiac simulations, indigenous medical devices, rural healthcare delivery and clinical translation.
4. What is the purpose of the BPCL YANTRAS centre?
The YANTRAS centre will work on next-generation robotic-assisted surgery technologies. It will support training, simulation, validation, startup incubation and indigenous product development in surgical robotics.
5. Why is the HSBC circular energy centre important?
The HSBC-supported centre will focus on resource efficiency, recyclability and circularity in India’s energy transition. Its work can help reduce waste, improve material recovery and support sustainable clean-energy systems.