The Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) marked a significant institutional milestone at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, by contributing to four high-impact national and international sessions focused on advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Demonstrating its growing leadership in AI-driven innovation, IIT Ropar played a central role in shaping global conversations across agriculture, energy, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and AI Centres of Excellence.
Under the Ministry of Education AI-CoE Pavilion, Annam.AI, the Agriculture Centre of Excellence at Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, showcased its advanced agricultural technologies. The exhibition received distinguished attention from Shri Dharmendra Pradhan ji, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Government of India, who visited the pavilion and engaged with the team to understand the impact of AI-enabled innovations on farmers and rural communities; during the Summit, Annam.AI also showcased its flagship innovation the Automatic Weather Station (AWS) at Lenovo’s stall.
Towards hosting the four key flagship dialogues and session, IIT Ropar contributed through collaborating with MoE for CoE Session; Embassy of Israel for Israel Session; UD Impact for Korea Session and with University of Saskatchewan for Canada session.
National Dialogue on AI Centres of Excellence with Ministry of Education
Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar, represented the institute at a high-level national panel on AI Centres of Excellence (AI-CoE) in Health, Education, Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities. He contributed strategic insights on AI-driven institutional transformation and impact-led innovation, sharing his leadership perspective and vision to strengthen the national AI discourse.
The distinguished session also featured national leaders including Srikanth Nadhamuni (Founder CTO, Aadhaar; APEX Committee, AI CoE, Ministry of Education, Government of India), Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar (IIT Ropar), Prof. Nitin Saxena (IIT Kanpur), Dr. Krithika Rangarajan (AIIMS New Delhi), , Prof. S. Neethi (IIT Madras), and Rahul Singh (IISc).
Agri AI Global Summit – India–Israel Joint Session with Embassy of Israel:
IIT Ropar (ANNAM.AI) also contributed to the Agri AI Global Summit, a landmark India–Israel joint session under the Summit’s umbrella. The session, themed “Bridging Nations Through AI: Scaling AI Innovations for Public Good,” focused on advancing responsible AI for agriculture, farmer-centric technologies, and inclusive innovation models.
The Joint Session commenced with an Inaugural Panel and Keynote, featuring distinguished leaders from academia, research, innovation policy, and diplomacy, including H.E. Reuven Azar, Ambassador of Israel to India; Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar; Dr. Radhika Trikha, CEO, IIT Ropar-TIF; Prof. Victor Alchanatis, Research Scientist, Institute of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering; Dr. Gal Zohar, Head of Research and Policy Department, Israeli Public Employment Service and Prof. Dov Greenbaum, Founder and Director, Zvi Meitar Institute.
A high-impact VC session titled “Bridging Nations Through AI: Scaling AI Innovations for Public Good” brought together distinguished leaders, including Ms. Maya Sherman (Embassy of Israel in India); Mr. Mayuresh Raut (Seafund), Ms. Urmi Tat (Salesforce), Ms. Nemesisa Ujjain (The Circle: Founders Club) and Dr. Mukesh Kestwal (IIT Ropar-TIF); discussions emphasized ethical, scalable AI solutions aimed at strengthening food systems and empowering farmers globally.
Empowering AI-Driven Entrepreneurship, India Korea dilouge with UD Impact, Korea
The IIT Ropar (iHub – AWaDH), in collaboration with UD IMPACT, South Korea & Invest Punjab (Startup Punjab, Government of Punjab, hosted a high-impact session titled “Empowering the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs in Asia and India through AI.”
The session was graced by Prof. Rajeev Ahuja (IIT Ropar), Sh. Amit Dhaka, IAS (CEO, Invest Punjab), Dr. Jae Kyeong Lee (Korea SMEs & Startups Agency), Mr. Youngseung Woo and Mr. TaeHyung Lee (UD IMPACT), Dr. Pushpendra P. Singh and Dr. Radhika Trikha (IIT Ropar);. The dialogue focused on strengthening AI-enabled entrepreneurship frameworks across Asia.
A key highlight of the session was the official launch of the report titled “The Vanguard: Seeding India’s AI-Powered Agricultural Revolution.” The report showcases the transformative impact of AI in India’s agriculture and water management sectors and presents outcomes from the IndiaAI & HDFC Bank Parivartan Grant initiative. The initiative supported startups working in critical domains such as soil health monitoring, water resource management, AI-driven farmer advisory systems, and aquaculture innovation.
Indo-Canadian Leadership Dialogue with University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
At the Indo-Canadian Leadership Dialogue, Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar, addressed global delegates and emphasized the transformative role of AI in strengthening mission-critical sectors. The dialogue underscored the importance of translational research, global academic partnerships, and innovation ecosystems that translate research into scalable real-world deployment.
The Indo-Canadian Symposium on AI for Food, Energy, and Health featured distinguished speakers including Dr. Ajay Dalai (University of Saskatchewan), Dr. Debi Prasad (CSIR-IMMT), Dr. Santosh Kumar (CSIR-IMMT), Dr. Maneesha Vinodini Ramesh (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham), Mukesh K. Saini (IIT Ropar), Dr. Mukesh Kestwal (IIT Ropar-TIF)
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 stands as a defining moment in positioning IIT Ropar at the forefront of India’s AI-driven transformation journey.
