IIT Madras awards 3,518 degrees; Zanzibar’s campus MTech batch records 100% placements

3 min readNew DelhiJul 17, 2026 05:35 PM IST

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras awarded 3,518 degrees, including 511 PhDs, to 3,106 students during its 63rd Convocation, held on campus on Friday. The ceremony was graced by Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, while the institute also unveiled the layout of the IIT Madras Zanzibar Campus.

The graduating cohort comprised 812 BTech, 302 Dual Degree BTech, 617 MTech, 201 MS, 143 MSc, 123 MA, 84 MBA, 53 Executive MBA, and 32 PG Diploma students. Among the 511 doctoral degrees awarded were 16 joint PhDs with foreign universities.

The convocation also highlighted the institute’s growing international presence through IIT Madras Zanzibar, India’s first overseas IIT campus. According to the Director’s Report, the campus currently has 130 students, with 51% from Tanzania and the remaining from countries including Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and India.

The institute said the inaugural MTech graduating batch from the Zanzibar campus recorded 100% placements, with students joining organisations such as SuperDoll, Zantel, and Airtel.

The ceremony was attended by Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras, Hon’ble Lela Mohamed Mussa, Minister of Education and Vocational Training of Zanzibar, Her Excellency Anisa Kapufi Mbega, High Commissioner of Tanzania to India, along with faculty members, students and other dignitaries.

Congratulating the graduating students, Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi said, “Every generation inherits the world as it is. Yours has the extraordinary opportunity—and responsibility—to shape the world as it ought to be. You graduate at a defining moment in history. Artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology and quantum technologies are changing the way humanity lives, learns and works. Yet history reminds us that technology alone has never guaranteed progress.”

The convocation also recognised outstanding academic and overall achievements. Ashwin Subramanian Murugan received both the President of India Prize for securing the highest CGPA among BTech and Dual Degree students and the Bharat Ratna M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Prize for the highest CGPA among BTech students.

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Anirudh Rao was awarded the Institute Merit Prize for the highest CGPA in the Dual Degree programme. Mith R. Jain received the Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma Prize for best all-round proficiency in curricular and extracurricular activities among BTech students, while B. Haricharan and Aravindan Kamatchi Sundaram jointly received the Governor’s Prize for best all-round performance in the Dual Degree programme.

Highlighting the institute’s international expansion, Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Looking ahead, IIT Madras Zanzibar plans to expand enrolment to 350–500 students by 2027 through accelerated faculty recruitment, stronger industry engagement, enhanced research infrastructure and the development of East Africa’s first research-integrated Startup Studio.”