IIT Guwahati is spearheading a national initiative to establish "Manekshaw Centres" for Defence and Security Research across the country. This visionary project, under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, aims to create a collaborative academic and research platform focused on defence technology and national security, aligning with the Government of India's Atmanirbhar Bharat mission.

The Manekshaw Centres will serve as nodal centers, acting as a single-window communication platform to bridge the gap between the Armed Forces, security agencies, and academic and research institutions. This initiative focuses on next-generation education, innovation, productization, manufacturing, and research-based consulting and operations to address India's evolving defense and security needs.

IIT Guwahati Director, Prof. Devendra Jalihal, emphasized that the Manekshaw Center will act as an interface between Indian academia and defense forces. He stated that IITs, IISc, IIITs, and NITs will be members of the center, which will periodically carry out dialogues with defense agencies and participate actively in defining and designing systems for Indian security needs, working towards finding indigenous solutions.

The initiative was conceived by Lt. Gen. Dr. Subrata Saha (Retd.), Executive Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of the Manekshaw Center of Excellence, and Prof. Sukumar Nandi, Dean of Administration, IIT Guwahati. A high-level delegation, including Prof. Jalihal, Prof. Manindra Agrawal (Director, IIT Kanpur, and Dy. Chief Patron, Manekshaw Center of Excellence), and Lt. Gen. Dr. Saha, recently briefed Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the establishment of these nodal centers. The Minister has pledged the ministry's full support to the Manekshaw Centres, highlighting their role in building a robust innovation ecosystem that brings together academia, defense, armed forces, security agencies, and industries to address national security challenges.

The Manekshaw Centre of Excellence for National Security Studies and Research (MCoENSSR), established in March 2025, aims to create a new-age Security Industrial Complex to promote self-reliant defense solutions. It also seeks to collaborate with startups, industry partners, and foreign institutes to achieve higher technology readiness levels for the Indian Armed Forces and Security Agencies. The center will organize dialogue series, workshops, seminars, ideathons, and conferences to address emerging national security challenges, including next-gen asymmetric hybrid non-contact warfare and futuristic technologies.

Currently, the initiative includes IITs Guwahati, Madras, Kanpur, Jodhpur, Dharwad, Delhi, Bombay, Kharagpur, BHU-Varanasi, ISM-Dhanbad, IISc Bangalore, and IIIT Delhi, with more institutions expected to join.

In related news, IIT Guwahati has launched the official website for GATE 2026, with applications opening on August 25 and the deadline for submission without a late fee set for September 25.