New Delhi, 21 September 2026: The question running through IEI summit at the Scope Convention Centre was a simple one: how does India go from making things for the world to designing them? The Institution of Engineers (India) put it in front of government officials, industry heads and academics at its 18th Industry Excellence Summit & Award and 5th Engineering Education Excellence Summit & Award. G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Coal and Mines, was Chief Guest in the morning. General (Dr) Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd), Governor of Mizoram, held that role at the award ceremony in the evening.
The event’s theme was “Engineering India’s Global Footprint: Technology, Talent and Trust.” IEI President Er. Manish Mahendra Kothari, in his souvenir message, said it “aptly captures India’s growing stature as a global engineering powerhouse.”
The inaugural session also heard from three Guests of Honour. Shalabh Goel is Managing Director of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation. Lt Gen Harpal Singh is Director General of the Border Roads Organisation. Dr Anju Rathi Rana is Member Secretary of the Law Commission, under the Department of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Law and Justice. The souvenir was released on stage with Er. J C Singhal, who chaired the souvenir committee.
“For years we talked about Make in India. The harder job now is to design here, develop here and then sell to the worldand that only happens when industry, colleges and startups sit at the same table. That is what this day was meant to be about. The winners are people who have already started doing it, and we wanted the rest of the engineering community to see how,” said Dr Ranga Reddy Enti, Chairman, IEI Awards 2026.
After the inaugural session the summit moved into three panels, convened by Dr Aloknath De. Nidhi Bansal, Director, DTDF, gave the keynote on getting from Atmanirbhar Bharat to a global footing, with Bharat Electronics, SAIL, HLL Lifecare, Holtec Consulting and JK Tyres on the panel. The second session turned to academia and Viksit Bharat. Dr Sandipann Narote, Director of NCVET, spoke, and NIT Meghalaya, JSS Polytechnic and Shri Vishnu Engineering College for Women were among those on stage. Gaurav Agarwal, cofounder of Tata 1mg, ended the panels with a fireside chat with Dr De about how companies, colleges and startups can build products together.
The awards came last. Manufacturers, process industries and construction firms were called up first, then academic institutions, then engineering services, consulting, MSME and startup winners. NIT Meghalaya took Institution of the Year. Bharat Electronics, Tata Consulting Engineers, Holtec Consulting and Aerospace Engineers were among the Platinum winners, and 46 more organisations and institutions got commendation awards. The industry award dates back to 2008, and each entry goes through two stages of assessment with a jury review.
