IIT Madras, GRID-INDIA Aid Tanzania Grids Capacity Development

IIT Madras, GRID-INDIA Aid Tanzania Grids Capacity Develop

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is collaborating with GRID-INDIA, a Central Public Sector Enterprise, to offer certification programs, conduct joint research, and deliver technical consultation projects to strengthen Tanzania’s energy infrastructure.

With a presence in Africa through IITM Zanzibar, the institute aims to build global partnerships for sustainable energy. Expanding horizons. This partnership creates new opportunities for cross-border knowledge exchange, applied research, and commercialization of clean energy technologies. GRID-INDIA, a Mini ratna company under the Union Ministry of Power is the National system operator responsible for the reliable and secure management of India’s electricity grid.

The effort at IIT Madras will be led through the Energy Consortium, an industry-academia collaborative center of excellence focused on clean energy. The MoU was signed on 22nd May 2025 by Manu Santhanam, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras, and Surajit Banerjee, Executive Director (HR), GRID-INDIA, at the IIT Madras campus.

Highlighting the key aspects of this collaboration, Manu Santhanam, Dean (IC&SR), IIT Madras, said “IIT Madras Zanzibar was conceived to extend our academic and research excellence to international geographies, with a focus on regional relevance. Our collaboration with GRID-INDIA allows us to leverage decades of experience in power systems research and industry engagement in India to deliver targeted capacity-building and applied technology programs for East Africa.”

Emphasizing the significance of this MoU, Paresh R. Ranpara, Director (HR), GRID-INDIA, said, “GRID-INDIA is looking forward to this collaboration with IIT Madras to catalyze and promote capacity building in the Power Sector for Tanzanian and other east African professionals, with the Zanzibar campus as a focal point. This partnership demonstrates the shared vision of GRID-INDIA and IIT Madras Zanzibar for supporting resilient, future-ready energy systems across the globe.”

This project aims to strengthen Tanzanian’s power sector technical capabilities :

⮚ The certification Program aims to provide foundational knowledge for professionals in areas such as power systems, renewable energy, and energy management

⮚ Specialized Certification Programs with hands-on training on topics such as power system protection and case studies

⮚ Joint Research Programs in areas such as microgrids, data analytics, and AI

⮚ Consultation Projects to provide practical solutions and insights to address the evolving challenges in the Tanzanian power sector

Principal Investigator of the project Shanti Swarup, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, and an affiliated faculty of The Energy Consortium, IIT Madras, said, “The Grid India – IIT Madras Zanzibar Collaboration would establish and strengthen the ties between industry and academic in providing ‘state-of-the-art’ lectures to the participants in enriching their knowledge about developments in power engineering for operation and planning of the futuristic power grid”

Nikhil Tambe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of The Energy Consortium and an adjunct faculty in the Department of Applied Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering, at IIT Madras, added, “The Energy Consortium announced its first chapter to be located at the IIT Madras Zanzibar campus in September 2024 and are now looking forward to this partnership with GRIDINDIA for Tanzania and broadly the East Africa region.”