India’s deep-tech momentum gains global focus as Bharat Innovates 2026 roadmap takes shape
Dharmendra Pradhan highlights innovation scale, startup depth, and global collaboration push
Mumbai: India’s ambition to emerge as a global innovation hub received a strong push with the Bharat Innovates Deep-Tech Pre-Summit at IIT Bombay bringing together policymakers, startups, investors, and academia to shape the country’s next phase of research-led growth.
Addressing the concluding session, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan said the Bharat Innovates initiative reflects the growing strength and global relevance of India’s innovation ecosystem, driven by thousands of startups and cutting-edge technologies across sectors.
The pre-summit served as a precursor to Bharat Innovates 2026, scheduled to be held in Nice, France, and focused on accelerating deep-tech innovation, strengthening industry–academia collaboration, and unlocking investment opportunities.
“India is uniquely positioned to develop solutions not just for itself but for the world, particularly for the Global South where scalable and cost-effective innovations are critical,” Pradhan said, underlining the country’s expanding role in global technology ecosystems.
Around 175 investors and industry leaders participated in a roundtable chaired by the minister, while 137 deep-tech startups—selected from over 1,186 applications—presented innovations spanning artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean technologies, advanced materials, and next-generation manufacturing.
The event also featured sectoral innovations across:
- energy, climate and sustainability
- semiconductors
- space and defence
- healthcare and medtech
- advanced computing
- biotechnology
- mobility and smart cities
- industry 4.0
Pradhan emphasized that sustained investment and policy support will be critical to enable startups to scale and translate research into market-ready solutions.
“Innovation must move from labs to markets to create real impact,” he said, reiterating the government’s commitment to building an enabling ecosystem through institutional collaboration and targeted policy interventions.
The summit facilitated direct engagement between startups, venture capital firms, and industry stakeholders, creating pathways for commercialization and global expansion.
Senior officials and academic leaders, including K. Radhakrishnan, Vineet Joshi, Abhay Karandikar, and Shireesh Kedare, attended the event, highlighting the coordinated push across government and academic institutions.
The selected startups are expected to represent India’s deep-tech capabilities at the global Bharat Innovates 2026 showcase, positioning the country as a key player in technology-driven innovation and entrepreneurship.
