India cannot rely solely on world trends and must instead build a domestic innovation ecosystem, invest in deep tech capabilities, and develop globally competitive products across strategic sectors, senior economist Neelkanth Mishra said on Saturday.

He was speaking at the 15th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN).

Mishra, the chief economist at Axis Bank and chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, spoke about the economic opportunities in the country, the challenges of escaping the middle-income trap, and the need for India to become a technology and product-driven nation.

“India cannot depend on global trends or foreign technology alone but has to build its own innovation ecosystem, invest in deep tech capabilities and develop globally competitive products across multiple strategic sectors,” an official release said, quoting Mishra.

The chief guest said the future of India will be shaped not just by policymakers and economists but also by the choices made by today’s youth and urged the graduates to take risks, pursue technological excellence and strive to build a self-reliant and globally competitive India.

President of the Asian Institute of Technology, Prof. Pai-Chi Li, virtually attended the award ceremony as the guest of honour. Another guest of honour, Executive Director of AIIMS Rajkot, Dr L N Dorairajan, presided over the function.

A total of 733 students graduated, while 734 degrees were awarded across undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, the release said.

The graduating batch included 225 women and 508 men from India, Mauritius and Nepal. The Institute also awarded 107 PhD degrees.

On Friday, IITGN also held its annual awards ceremony, recognising students for their excellence in academics, research, leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, sports, arts and culture and community engagement.

Published on June 21, 2026