Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday used the 139th episode of Mann Ki Baat to turn the spotlight on a cluster of deep-technology startups from IIT Madras, presenting their work as evidence of how campus research in India is now reaching everyday problems. The episode, broadcast on 25 October 2026, also marked 12 years of the monthly radio programme.
The Prime Minister listed a striking range of innovations emerging from the institute. Among them were a system to verify the purity of gold and guard buyers against fraud, a tool to help people recover money lost to bank fraud more quickly, and an artificial-intelligence-assisted method for cervical cancer screening. He also spoke of a flying electric vehicle, fast-charging batteries for drones and electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence applications in defence.
What linked these projects, the Prime Minister suggested, was a willingness to take on hard problems rather than settle for easy ones. That IIT Madras has produced startups working simultaneously on health, finance, mobility and national security was, in his telling, a sign of how far India’s innovation ecosystem has matured.
The episode also carried a significant institutional milestone for the institute. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre at IIT Madras, a facility devoted to high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging of the human brain. The centre aims to map 100 brains and to make its data open-source, a step that could give researchers across the world a powerful new resource for understanding the brain and its disorders.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri later praised the IIT Madras innovators highlighted in the programme, adding his voice to the appreciation for work that moves from the laboratory into public use.
From technology, the Prime Minister turned to the festive economy and his long-standing call for Vocal for Local. With Diwali and Chhath approaching, he urged citizens to choose Indian-made products and to support local artisans, weavers and small traders. He cited the example of makhana from Purnia in Bihar reaching Greece, and arhar dal from Kalaburagi being exported to the Maldives, as illustrations of how local produce can find global markets.
The appeal was backed by figures from the khadi sector. Khadi Gram Udyog sales crossed Rs 28 crore on Gandhi Jayanti, the Prime Minister said, about Rs 1.5 crore more than in the previous year. For an industry built on village-level production, such growth is not merely a sales figure; it is income for spinners, weavers and artisans whose livelihoods depend on festive-season demand.
Health and public service also found a place in the address. The Prime Minister noted that about 50 crore teleconsultations have now taken place through digital health services, a scale that points to how deeply telemedicine has entered everyday life, particularly for patients far from specialist hospitals. The figure reflects a quiet transformation in access to care, driven by connectivity and digital platforms.
The episode closed on notes of remembrance and national participation. The Prime Minister paid tribute to Narinder Singh Kapany, remembered as the Father of Fibre Optics, ahead of his 100th birth anniversary on 31 October. He also called on citizens to join the Run for Unity on the same day, linking the celebration of a scientific pioneer with a collective act of national togetherness.
Taken together, the episode wove three threads into one message: celebrate science that solves real problems, buy local in the festive season, and remember the pioneers who made modern India possible. For the young innovators of IIT Madras, it was a national stage for work that usually unfolds quietly in laboratories.
