CII Coimbatore organized the 9th edition of National Higher Education Conclave in the city on Thursday on the theme 'Internationalization & Industrialization of Higher Education'.

Rajesh Doraiswamy, Chairman, CII Coimbatore Zone & JMD, Salzer Electronics welcomed the gathering. He said that before 2 decades, India was seen as a low-cost service resource by other developed nations whereas now India has become a value creator for the world. We are seen as a very dependable, agile, problem-solver by everyone. This transformation was possible because of our educational institutions, he remarked.Going forward, educational institutions have to prepare and strengthen their students for global roles and also concentrate on joint research with the industries, he said.

Senthil Ganesh, Chairman, National Higher Education Conclave 2025 & Managing Trustee, RVS Group of Institutions spoke about the theme of this event.

He said CII explored the opportunities for Indian Higher Educational Institutions to collaborate with top global Universities, especially with the ones at the UK. "The Universities in the UK are looking for meaningful research partnerships," he said. Mr.Ganesh suggested the Indian universities to engage closely with their International counterparts in areas beyond students and faculty exchanges.Talking about industrialization, he said this aspect is not only about skilling the students to be industry-ready but making them ready for corporate learning and management as well.

R.Nandini, Immediate Past Chairperson, CII -SR & FounderTrustee, GRG Trust  delivered a special address in which she underlined that today's world is shaped by 3 aspects - Tech, Geopolitics and Talent, and India is poised to provide nearly one-quarter of the world's incremental workforce by 2030.  Hence higher Education should be more about researches, innovation, entrepreneurships today.  The decade ahead will be defined by A.I., Semiconductors, Electric Mobility and Green Energy. Semiconductors alone will have demand for 1 million skilled professionals by 2030, she stated. 

She gave an interesting stat -  over 60% of researches taking place in the universities in the USA, Germany and European countries are funded by the industry. "In South Korea, we believe, 5% of the GDP is invested in R&D via universities," she remarked. India can match these benchmarks if we embrace a similar path. Our research should transform into products and patents. India produces 10 million graduates annually. If these individuals are innovation driven, industry-ready and digitally fluent, then the impact would be immense, he said.

S.Malarvizhi, Past Chairwoman, CII-IWN Tamil Nadu & Managing Trustee, Sri Krishna Institutions delivered a special address, in which she said that several international universities have already begun setting up their campuses in India. Maharashtra has even unveiled an International Education City and is attracting some top international universities there. Next year, 7 international universities are expected to establish their campuses here, she remarked.

Speaking about the impact of such institutions entering India, Ms.Malarvizhi said that quality of Indian universities and higher educational institutions will rise because of the competition.  This will also make India universities to further improve their curriculum to match the level of the international institutes. The standard of the whole sector could increase. Great knowledge transfer will take place in the country and the exposure would be immense.

Shanker Vanavarayar, Past Chairman, CII -TN & President, Kumaraguru Institutions in his special address said that Indians schools, including the ones at The Nilgiris have achieved international repute way back. Higher educational institutions may take their progress as example and learn from them. Industries too have become establishments of international repute as well; if industry can achieve this level, the Indian academia too can reach this, he remarked. Coimbatore, because of its industrial prowess, is called the Manchester of South India. It has the potential to become the Harvard or Boston of India in the arena of academics, he said.

Delivering the inaugural address, Prof.Satyanarayana, VC, Dayananda Sagar University said that India will be a world leader when it celebrates its 100th Independence Day.  In 60+ years, India became a $2 trillion economy. Just 11 years after that it reached $ 4 trillion+ economy. In the next 5 years, it may become a $ 6 to 8 trillion economy as well. This growth became possible because of the knowledge economy of India.  Going forward, India needs a multi-disciplinary, immersive, experiential learning system to achieve its goals.

Sujana Abirami, Convenor, Education Panel - CII Coimbatore & Trustee, Firebird Institute of Research in Management delivered the closing remarks and thanked the organizers, sponsors, members of the industry and academia.