IIT Hyderabad Director Urges Innovation for Global Markets

Hyderabad: Students should focus on developing products for global markets and creating jobs rather than merely seeking employment, IIT Hyderabad director Prof. B.S. Murty said at the University of Hyderabad (UoH). He called for education that fosters innovation, experimentation and entrepreneurship.

Delivering the eighth lecture in UoH’s Distinguished Lecture Series, titled Building a Developed India: Role of Education, Murty said India must move beyond self‑reliance and produce goods that can compete internationally. “We have to make ‘Make in India’ products, not just to be self‑reliant, but to supply globally so we may call India a developed nation,” he said.

The lecture was part of UoH’s Golden Jubilee celebrations and the Silver Jubilee of its School of Management Studies. Murty urged young people to take responsibility for the country’s development over the next two decades, particularly by accelerating progress in science and technology.

Citing IIT Hyderabad’s initiatives such as banning single‑use plastics and turning barren land into green spaces, he said institutions and students could drive change. He stressed the need to give students greater freedom to experiment, noting that innovation depended on creative thinking and that disciplines such as the arts had a role alongside science and technology.

Murty highlighted IIT Hyderabad’s flexible B.Tech programmes, which allow students choice in curricula, and institutional support for startup ideas. He also called for changes to school‑level education to encourage innovation from an early age. “Don’t look for employment; give employment, start ideas, and build products,” he told students.

UoH Vice‑Chancellor Prof. J. Anuradha, in her opening remarks, said, “Failure is learning; learn from your experiences.” The lecture concluded with an interactive session in which Murty answered students’ questions on career choices and entrepreneurship.