Ashish Modi, President, India and Asia Pacific, Honeywell, and Professor Shireesh B. Kedare, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, said the Centre of Excellence aims to train more than 100,000 students in sustainability related fields by 2030.
A new sustainability skilling initiative is set to expand industry academia collaboration in higher education through a Centre of Excellence being established at the Powai campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay with Honeywell backing. The initiative is intended to help train more than 100,000 students in sustainability related fields by 2030.
The IIT Bombay Honeywell Centre of Excellence for Future Skills and Innovation will be created and fully funded by Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation, Honeywell’s philanthropic arm in India. The Centre of Excellence will support advanced laboratory infrastructure, equipment procurement, curriculum design, and research and innovation grants.
During its pilot phase over the next two months, the centre will focus on setting up core infrastructure, developing a specialised curriculum, and training an initial batch of 250 students. The programme will offer certificate based learning through coursework and hands on projects linked to real world sustainability challenges. It is intended to benefit undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students from across the country.
Following the pilot phase, subsequent stages of the partnership are expected to engage nearly 20,000 students per year through a structured curriculum. The centre will focus on five learning tracks including sustainability reporting, sustainable finance, energy security, sustainability infrastructure, and policy advocacy.
The initiative comes at a time when sustainability focused talent is becoming increasingly important for sectors linked to energy transition, digital transformation, and environmental management. The programme is designed to combine classroom learning with applied research and practical exposure to emerging sustainability challenges.
Ashish Modi, President, India and Asia Pacific, Honeywell, said, “Skilling our workforce is central to building a future ready and sustainable India. Our collaboration with IIT Bombay reinforces Honeywell’s commitment to developing high quality talent across sustainability fields, as India accelerates growth through its AI powered digital economy. Honeywell’s new Centre of Excellence aligns with this digital transformation and will equip students with the right industrial skills to support long term economic growth with sustainability at the core.”
Professor Shireesh B. Kedare, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, said, “IIT Bombay has always emphasized translating academic excellence into societal impact. The establishment of our Centre of Excellence with Honeywell strengthens that mission by giving students experiential learning beyond the classroom, enabling them to engage meaningfully with real world sustainability challenges that are critical to India’s future.”
The course structure, applicable through 2030, will require each student to complete 40 hours of training across the five learning tracks. The classroom programmes and applied research components will be delivered jointly by IIT Bombay faculty and industry specialists. Honeywell employees will also support the initiative through volunteer mentorship, technical guidance, and career readiness training.
The collaboration is part of Honeywell India’s Saksham skilling initiative, which focuses on training STEM students in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and sustainability. Within this broader effort, the IIT Bombay partnership will focus specifically on sustainability related skill development through the Centre of Excellence.
Comments