Over the next decade, IITs took root across the country, in Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, and Delhi, often with international collaboration. The then USSR, the US, Germany, and the UK each helped establish one of these early institutions, turning technical education into a bridge for global cooperation. By the 1960s, the IITs were producing some of the world’s finest engineers and talents, many of whom went on to lead global tech giants - Sundar Pichai (Google) and Arvind Krishna (IBM) to Narayana Murthy (Infosys) and Vinod Khosla (Sun Microsystems). But with the so-called “brain drain”, generations saw top graduates leaving India for better opportunities overseas, which was a loss for a nation that heavily invested in education. Yet, as India liberalised in the 1990s and the tech economy flourished, many IITians returned, driving innovation at home and redefining India’s global footprint in science and technology. Today, with 23 IITs across India, the challenge is no longer just producing engineers: it is about staying relevant in a fast-changing world shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, and industry-linked research. As the IITs look to the future, their task is to evolve once more from institutions of excellence to engines of innovation for the next century.