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Famous Persons from IIT Kharagpur: The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) was founded in 1951 and is also one of the oldest IITs in India. With its glorious and excellence-filled years, many great personalities have graduated from here. Some of its alumni have become global leaders in technology, business, politics as well as academia. Let us get to know these famous people from IIT Kharagpur in detail and their accomplishments as a source of inspiration in this blog!
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List of Famous Persons from IIT Kharagpur
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The notable alumni of IIT Kharagpur rank among some of the best people reaching the pinnacle of success. Here is a list of the top 10 famous personalities from IIT Kharagpur –
| IIT Kharagpur Notable Alumni | Field of Contribution | Remarkable Achievements |
| Sundar Pichai | Technology | CEO of Google and Alphabet |
| Arvind Kejriwal | Public Service | Chief Minister of Delhi |
| Arjun Malhotra | Entrepreneurship | Co-founder of HCL Technologies |
| Vinod Gupta | Entrepreneurship | Founder of Infofree |
| K. Radhakrishnan | Space Research | Former Chairman of ISRO |
| Duvvuri Subbarao | Economist | 22nd Governor of RBI |
| Pushpak Bhattacharyya | Computer Scientist | Natural Learning Machine (NLP), Eye Tracking, etc |
| Malli Mastan Babu | Motivational Speaker, Mountaineer | First Indian to climb Carstensz Pyramid and Vinson Massif |
Arjun Malhotra – The Co-founder of HCL Technologies
Arjun Malhotra is an industrialist, philanthropist and board advisor. He holds a Bachelor of Technology with honours in electronics and electrical communication engineering from IIT, Kharagpur in 1970. He was also honoured with a Doctor of Science degree(honoris causa) and was named Life Fellow of IIT, Kharagpur. He has also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Malhotra has co-founded companies like HCL Group in 1975, SPIC MACAY and more.
| Details | About Arjun Malhotra |
| Degree | B.Tech in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering |
| Achievements | Co-founder of HCL Technologies, SPIC MACAY, etc |
| Industry Contributions | IT services expansion in India and globally |
| Current Role | Mentor and investor in tech startups |
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Vinod Gupta – Founder of Infofree
Vinod Gupta, aka famously called Vin Gupta, is the founder of Infofree.com. He is also the founder of Salesgenie, InfoUSA and Infogroup. He holds a B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. He also has a master’s degree in agricultural engineering and business from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is also an investor and founder of businesses like A to Z Databases, LocatePlus, Express-Copy, JangoMail and LP Police, which the Everest Group owns. Even US President Bill Clinton appointed Gupta as a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
| Particular | Achievements of Vinod Gupta |
| IIT Kharagpur Graduate | B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering |
| Founder of InfoUSA | Established a Saas company providing business information |
| Philanthropist | Donated to educational institutions for higher studies. |
K. Radhakrishnan – Former Chairman of ISRO
Kopilli Radhakrishnan is an Indian space scientist who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the Chairman of the Space Commission. He belongs to Kerala and graduated from Kerala University. Later, he did his post-graduate studies from IIM Bangalore and had a doctorate from IIT Kharagpur. His thesis was “Some Strategies for the Management of Indian Earth Observation System”
| Particular | Achievement of K Radhakrishnan |
| IIT Kharagpur Doctorate | Some Strategies for the Management of the Indian Earth Observation System |
| Chairman of ISRO | Led India’s space program from 2009 to 2014 |
| Mars Orbiter Mission | Headed India’s first interplanetary mission to Mars |
| Padma Bhushan Awardee | Received one of India’s highest civilian honours in 2014 |
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Duvvuri Subbarao – Governor of RBI
Duvvuri Subbarao is an Indian economist, Central Banker and a retired IAS Officer. He also served as the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He graduated with a BSc Hons in Physics from IIT Kharagpur and later topped the Civil Service examination. Subbarao continued his master’s degree from Ohio State University, US, and became a Humphrey Fellow at MIT, where he studied public finance. He also earned a PhD in economics from Andhra University in “Fiscal reforms at the sub-national level”.
| Details | About Duvvuri Subbarao |
| Degree | BSc in Science from IIT Kharagpur |
| Achievements | Formulating and implementing the 1991 reforms, worked as a lead economist at the World Bank, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (2005–07) |
| Contributions | Formulating and Implementing the 1991 reforms, worked as a lead economist at the World Bank, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (2005–07) |
| Autobiography | “Who Moved My Interest Rate?: Leading the Reserve Bank of India Through Five Turbulent Years”, “Just A Mercenary?: Notes from My Life and Career.” |
Pushpak Bhattacharyya – The Godfather of NLP in India
Pushpak Bhattacharyya did his undergraduate in B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur. He pursued his Master’s from IIT Kanpur (M.Tech) and PhD from IIT Bombay in 1994. He is often regarded as the Godfather of NLP in India, a name given to him by Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys. His research areas are Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, Psycholinguistics, Machine Learning, Eye Tracking, etc.
| Particular | Achievements of Pushpak Bhattacharyya |
| Known for | Director at IIT Patna, NLP, etc |
| Research | Published more than 350 research papers revolving around NLP |
| Awards | VNMM Award to IIT Roorkee for Technology Development |
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5+ IIT Kharagpur Notable Alumni Famous on the Internet
Some of the other famous personalities from IIT Kharagpur are not just ruling the internet but have also become a youth icon over time:-
| Name | Profession/Role | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Biswa Kalyan Rath | Indian Stand-up Comedian and Writer | Known for unique comedy style; rose to fame via YouTube and comedy specials. |
| Sandipan Deb | Founder Editor of Outlook | Established the popular Indian news magazine Outlook. |
| Ashok Khemka | Senior Bureaucrat, Haryana | Known for anti-corruption stance and frequent transfers due to activism. |
| Arun Sarin | Former CEO of Vodafone | Led Vodafone globally; known for telecom industry leadership. |
| Ravi Kant | Former Vice-Chairman of Tata Motors | Played key role in Tata Motors’ growth and international expansion. |
| Suhas Patil | Founder of Cirrus Logic | IIT Kharagpur alumnus; founded Cirrus Logic, a major semiconductor company. |
FAQs
One of the billionaires from IIT Kharagpur is Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google.
The most famous IITians are – N. R Narayan Murty, Chetan Bhagat, Rohit Bansal, etc.
Some of the alumni of IIT Kharagpur are – Lalit Mohan Jha, Ajay Pathak, Sushanta Tripathy, etc
Biswa Kalyan Rath, an Indian stand-up comedian, writer, and YouTuber, is a notable alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. He gained prominence through the “Pretentious Movie Reviews” series on YouTube with Kanan Gill and created the Amazon Prime series “Laakhon Mein Ek.”
On the first day of the 2024-25 placement process, nine students from IIT Kharagpur secured job offers with pay packages exceeding ₹1 crore per annum. The highest package received on day one was ₹2.14 crore.
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This was all about the famous people from IIT Kharagpur. If you want to know more about other Famous Personalities then visit our General Knowledge page!
