IIT Kanpur Launches $1 Billion 'Greater Than Us' Campaign

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched IIT Kanpur's 'Greater Than Us' fundraising campaign in New Delhi on 14 October 2026, and used the occasion to press for closer work between the armed forces, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), academic institutions, defence public sector undertakings and private industry, start-ups included, so that indigenous military technology is developed, adopted and upgraded faster.

The campaign

The campaign seeks to raise US$1 billion by March 2029 and is the largest fundraising effort ever mounted by any Indian Institute of Technology. Nearly half the target, Rs 4,155 crore, has already been committed by alumni, donors, corporate partners and the government. The money is meant to build research infrastructure, nurture talent and speed up the development and commercialisation of homegrown technology in step with the goal of a developed India by 2047.

Why the Defence Minister was there

Rajnath Singh argued that national security and technological capability are now tied together, because artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, unmanned platforms, advanced sensors, cybersecurity and space technology are reshaping how wars are fought. Institutions such as the IITs, he said, can contribute by matching academic research to the operational needs of the forces and the requirements of industry, turning the country from a consumer of knowledge into a creator of it.

Defence projects at IIT Kanpur

• The existing DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence on the campus.
• A proposed School of Defence Technologies, which the minister welcomed.
• A National Military Drone Technology Hub, planned with the Ministry of Defence to speed up indigenisation and give the forces a combat edge; its approval process is close to completion.
• The C3i Cybersecurity Technology Innovation Hub and the institute's medical school.

The wider innovation picture

The minister cited the IIT ecosystem's record of supporting over 6,000 start-ups, producing 56 unicorns and nearly 5,000 patents as proof that the institutes have become engines of enterprise rather than mere teaching bodies. He referred to the government's approval of a Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme to pull private money into advanced technology, and to a policy change that dropped the three-year existence requirement for deep-tech start-ups backed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. On Uttar Pradesh, he said IIT Kanpur can bridge laboratory research and industrial application, adding to the state's ambition of a one-trillion-dollar economy. Research in advanced materials, semiconductors, quantum technology and environmental sustainability, he added, would be decisive for national priorities.

Present at the launch were Prof Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Adviser to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and the institute's faculty, students and alumni.