IIT Roorkee and WRI India signed an MoU to advance sustainable battery ecosystems, clean mobility, circular economy, critical minerals, and India’s clean energy transition.
IIT Roorkee and WRI India Join Hands for Clean Energy Research
The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) and WRI India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen collaboration in sustainable battery ecosystems, circular economy, critical minerals, clean energy transition, research, innovation, and capacity building. The partnership supports India’s wider push toward cleaner mobility, resource efficiency, and self-reliant industrial growth.
The collaboration comes at a time when India is expanding its clean energy ambitions and looking for stronger domestic capabilities in battery technologies and electric mobility. By bringing together an academic institution and a policy and research organisation, the MoU creates a framework for practical work that can connect laboratory innovation with policy implementation.
MoU Signed at Battery Summit 2026
The MoU was signed by Prof. Vivek Malik, Dean, Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy, IIT Roorkee, and Mr. Pawan Mulukutla, Executive Program Director – Integrated Transport, Clean Air and Hydrogen, WRI India. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prof. Yogesh Sharma, Dean of Resources and Alumni Affairs, IIT Roorkee, and Ms Chaitanya Kanuri, Program Director – Electric Mobility and Batteries, WRI India.
The exchanged copies of the MoU were formally presented by Prof. Yogesh Sharma on behalf of IIT Roorkee during the Battery Summit 2026 held at Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi. The setting underlined the importance of the agreement within India’s growing battery and clean mobility policy ecosystem.
Focus on Sustainable Battery Ecosystems
The collaboration aims to promote joint research, knowledge exchange, academic engagement, policy studies, workshops, training programmes, conferences, and student and faculty interactions. These efforts will focus on sustainable mobility, battery technologies, recycling, resource efficiency, circular economy, and critical mineral value chains.
This broad agenda reflects the fact that battery systems are not only a technology issue but also an economic, environmental, and strategic one. India needs solutions that reduce dependence on imported materials, improve recycling systems, and strengthen the entire lifecycle of battery use from production to disposal.
The partnership also places emphasis on sustainable and self-reliant development. That approach aligns with national priorities in manufacturing, clean transport, and long-term energy security.
Leadership Highlights National Relevance
Prof. Kamal Kishore Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee, said the transition towards a sustainable and self-reliant energy future requires strong collaboration among academia, industry, research organisations, and policymakers. He said the partnership with WRI India will create new opportunities for research, innovation, capacity building, and knowledge generation in areas critical to India’s energy transition.
He added that the collaboration aligns with national priorities such as Atmanirbhar Bharat, sustainable industrial growth, and the development of future-ready technologies supporting India’s Net Zero aspirations. His remarks highlight how universities can move beyond classroom teaching and become active contributors to India’s energy and industrial strategy.
Academic and Policy Strengths Combined
Prof. Vivek Kumar Malik, Dean SRIC at IIT Roorkee, said the MoU provides a valuable framework for collaborative research, academic exchange, and capacity-building initiatives. He noted that IIT Roorkee’s research strengths combined with WRI India’s expertise in sustainable development and policy engagement can produce meaningful outcomes.
This mix of technical research and policy insight matters because sustainable battery development requires both innovation and regulatory support. Researchers may develop better materials, safer designs, and more efficient systems, but policy support is needed to scale these innovations across industry and public infrastructure.
The partnership is therefore designed not only to generate knowledge but also to support evidence-based decision-making. That could help shape future standards, recycling rules, supply-chain policies, and mobility frameworks.
Circular Economy and Critical Minerals
One of the most significant aspects of the agreement is its focus on circular economy and critical minerals. Batteries rely on materials that are often expensive, resource-intensive, and geopolitically sensitive. Better recycling, recovery, and reuse systems can reduce waste and improve India’s resource resilience.
The MoU also recognizes the importance of critical mineral value chains in achieving clean energy goals. As electric mobility expands, the ability to secure, process, and manage these materials will become increasingly important for national competitiveness.
By linking circular economy thinking with battery research, the two institutions are addressing both environmental impact and strategic supply risks. That makes the partnership relevant not just to energy researchers but also to industry planners and policymakers.
Building Capacity for the Future
The collaboration will also support training programmes, workshops, conferences, and student and faculty interactions. These activities can build a stronger talent pipeline for India’s battery and mobility sectors. They can also encourage interdisciplinary learning among engineers, scientists, planners, and policy researchers.
Such capacity building is essential because the clean energy transition will require a workforce that understands both technology and systems-level thinking. Universities and research organisations will play a major role in preparing that workforce.
The IIT Roorkee-WRI India partnership reflects a growing model in India’s innovation landscape: combining research excellence with policy engagement to solve long-term public challenges. In this case, the challenge is building a cleaner, more resource-efficient, and more self-reliant energy future.
The MoU positions both institutions to contribute to India’s clean energy transition through research, innovation, knowledge exchange, and strategic policy support. It also reinforces the importance of collaboration in creating technologies and systems that can serve both economic growth and environmental sustainability.
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