Energy Sector Leaders Call for Innovation at IIT Hyderabad Meet

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad hosted the ‘MC² Plus Ignite Hyderabad Connect’ industry-academia-startup meet to address the evolving challenges facing India’s energy sector. The event was jointly organised by GAIL (India) Limited, Petronet LNG Limited, and the MC² Foundation in association with the iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad.

Addressing the gathering, GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Deepak Gupta stated that the country has reached a “remarkable inflection point.” He explained that India is navigating rapidly growing energy requirements while striving to become a developed economy, ensure affordable and reliable energy supplies, build globally competitive industries, and honour its climate commitments.

Gupta called for a technological shift across the industry, urging a transition from standard preventive and predictive maintenance toward prescriptive maintenance. Under a prescriptive maintenance framework, technology would not only anticipate potential system failures but also recommend appropriate interventions to address them.

Former Bank of Baroda Chairman and Managing Director Dr Anil K Khandelwal also addressed the summit, speaking on the structural requirements for operational change. He noted that true transformation is never driven by a single initiative, but is instead built through a sustained culture of customer-centricity, technological adoption, experimentation, and continuous learning.

IIT Hyderabad Director Prof BS Murty highlighted the collaborative nature of the programme, stating that the MC² Plus initiative successfully bridges the gap between industry, academia, and the startup ecosystem to tackle some of the most critical challenges confronting the nation's energy landscape.