State Bank of India Chair

The State Bank of India is a multinational public sector bank. Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, it is a government corporation statutory body. The Bank has over 24000 branches in India and 191 overseas offices in over 36 countries in the world. SBI is ranked as 236th in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations of 2019. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market share in assets, besides a share of one-fourth of the total loan and deposits market.
SBI instituted the State Bank of India Chair on energy & environment with special emphasis on innovations in the field of solar energy.




Current Occupant


Prof. Avinash Kumar Agarwal

April 2022- April 2025

Prof. Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Department of Mechanical Engineering, areas of interest include IC engines, combustion, conventional fuels, alternative fuels, methanol fuelled engine development, hydrogen, LCA and TCO analyses, fuel sprays, lubricating oil tribology, optical diagnostics, laser ignition, HCCI, particulate and emission control, and large bore engines.

For his outstanding contributions, Prof. Agarwal is conferred upon Sir J. C. Bose National Fellowship (2019) by SERB, Clarivate Analytics India Citation Award-2017 in Engineering and Technology, Prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (2016) in Engineering Sciences, Rajib Goyal Prize in Physical Sciences (2015); NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award (2012); INAE Silver Jubilee Young Engineer Award (2012); Dr C. V. Raman Young Teachers Award (2011); SAE International's Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (2008); INSA Young Scientist Award (2007); UICT Young Scientist Award (2007); INAE Young Engineer Award (2005); Devendra Shukla Research Fellowship (2009-12), Poonam and Prabhu Goyal Endowed Chair Professorship (2013-16), AICTE Career Award for Young Teachers (2004); DST Young Scientist Award (2002); and DST BOYSCAST Fellowship (2002).

He is an elected Fellow of Society of Automotive Engineers International, USA (SAE; 2012), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME; 2013), Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE; 2015), International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (ISEES; 2016), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC; 2018), National Academy of Science Allahabad (NASI; 2018), World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies (WSSET-2020), American Association for Advancement in Science (AAAS; 2020) and Combustion Institute USA (CI; 2022).

Prof. Avinash Kumar Agarwal earned his doctorate in Energy from the IIT, Delhi in 1996.