Investing in a More Sustainable Future
Kotak School of Sustainability
The Kotak School of Sustainability brings engineering, science, policy and economics together to address climate, energy, water and resource challenges.
The Kotak School of Sustainability represents IIT Kanpur’s effort to build a new institutional model for one of the defining challenges of our time. Established with the support of Kotak Mahindra Bank through its CSR programme, the School brings science, engineering, economics, policy and society together to help India grow while becoming cleaner, more resilient and more resource-efficient.
Sustainability Is a Systems Challenge
Climate change affects far more than the environment. Extreme heat influences health and productivity. Water scarcity affects agriculture, industry and migration. Cleaner energy reshapes infrastructure, employment and national competitiveness.
No single technology or discipline can address these challenges alone. Solar energy also requires storage, grid integration and financing. Sustainable cities depend on mobility, waste management, buildings, policy and citizen participation working together.
The Kotak School was created around this understanding. Launched in December 2023, it is positioned as India’s first fully integrated interdisciplinary school dedicated to sustainability.
A Partnership Built Around a National Priority
Kotak Mahindra Bank’s support gave institutional form to an idea whose relevance extends far beyond IIT Kanpur.
Rather than fund a limited intervention, the partnership creates enduring capacity through faculty, researchers, academic programmes, collaborative centres and engagement with industry, government and society.
The School’s work spans clean energy, water, climate and ecology, sustainable infrastructure, circular economy, climate finance, economics, policy and artificial intelligence for sustainability.
This integrated approach allows researchers to ask not only whether a technology works, but whether it can be adopted, financed, governed and sustained in the real world.
Beginning With India’s Realities
India must expand infrastructure, energy access and economic opportunity while responding to climate risks and long-term sustainability commitments.
Solutions must work across dense cities, industrial regions, agricultural communities and areas with very different levels of resources.
Located within IIT Kanpur, the School can combine scientific and engineering capability with economics, policy and social understanding to develop responses shaped around these realities.
Educating Leaders Across Boundaries
The transition to a sustainable economy will require professionals who can work across disciplines.
Engineers will need to understand regulation and environmental consequences. Policymakers will need greater fluency in technology and data. Business leaders will need to treat climate risk and resource efficiency as strategic concerns.
The School’s academic programmes, including its M.Tech. in Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability, are designed to develop this cross-disciplinary capacity.
A Living Laboratory
The School’s upcoming academic building is envisioned as a LEED Platinum-certified, Net Zero Energy facility using energy-efficient systems and environmentally sensitive materials.
Beyond its architecture, it can serve as a living laboratory where students and researchers study sustainable materials, energy systems, water management and building performance in practice.
Kotak Mahindra Bank’s founding support has enabled IIT Kanpur to create an institutional platform around a defining question:
How can societies continue to develop without compromising the systems on which future development depends?
The Kotak School has been created to help find those answers.
