The Indian Institute of Science gave rise to many industries, some of which are still around today. Its scientists were instrumental in setting up and leading many of independent India’s PSUs. It also counts among world-leading institutions of scientific research

In 1893, a monk and an industrialist – Swami Vivekananda and Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata – met on the steamship ‘Empress of India’ en route from Japan to Chicago. Their conversation sowed the seeds of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Tata’s mind. “I very much recall at this moment your views on the growth of the ascetic spirit in India, and the duty, not of destroying, but of diverting it into useful channels. I recall these ideas in connection with my scheme of a Research Institute of Science for India, of which you have doubtless heard or read,” Tata wrote to Vivekananda on November 23, 1898. By then, he had constituted a Provisional Committee under the leadership of Burjorji Padshah, who would go on to become a central character in the setting up of IISc.

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