The annual  MIT India Conference was held on May 2 at the MIT  Media Lab. The conference aims to highlight the key social, business, and political challenges, practices, and innovations that are shaping India today and tomorrow.  

This year, the conference featured leaders from a variety of fields as varied as spirituality to technology.  The conference theme for 2015 was "A New India in a Changing World," and it aimed to introduce industry perspectives, key market trends, best practices, and macro-socio economic trends in  India. 

The morning panel had the former National Security Advisor and Architect of Indo-US Nuclear Deal, Shivshankar Menon, discussing India's foreign policy and world politics. This was followed by Mr. Nikhil Meswani, Executive Director, Reliance Industries, and Dr. Abhijit Banerjee, Professor, MIT, discussing the road ahead for economic reforms in India. Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman Kirloskar Industries and Dr. Sanjay Sarma, Professor, MIT discussed the path ahead for Indian manufacturing industry. The morning session came to a conclusion with His Holiness Radhanath Swami, a Vaishnava monk and renowned writer, social activist, and teacher, sharing his learning of the value of Indian culture.

    

The afternoon session opened  with Isher Ahluwalia (ICRIER), John Werner (MIT, Media Lab), Dr. Bish Sanyal (MIT, panel chair) discussing how urban retrofitting will  shape a new Urban India and described the challenges ahead. Mr. C. P. Gurnani, CEO and Managing Director of Tech Mahindra and Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Professor, MIT will discussed the trends, opportunities, and challenges for the IT industry. Akhil Gupta (Chairman, Blackstone India) and Dr. Antoinette Schoar (Professor, MIT) discussed how investors navigate the Indian markets. Akhil Gupta shared several personal anecdotes that made this very interesting panel. Other panels focused on affordable healthcare, understanding the tech consumer and on the political scene in India. 

The speakers placed  a special emphasis on offering opportunities for MIT students at their companies. 

The event was enlightening  and as always gave a great understanding of India as it continues to evolve.