IITs are the most reputed colleges for getting a B.Tech. in India. It is like a dream come true for Indian students to be able to make it to IIT. Most of the IITians work in reputed firms all over the world, but there are some who are inspiring millions. They are CEOs, owners, actors, comedians, chefs, politicians, and many more. Each success story is different and has so much to inspire all of us. Read the story of 18 of the best IITians of India who chose to lead instead of being led.
1. Sundar Pichai
Born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google and Alphabet and serves on Alphabet’s Board of Directors. He studied B.Tech in Metallurgy Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. Sundar Pichai is among the most successful and well-known personalities across the globe.
2. Bhavish Aggarwal
Graduate in Computer science from IIT Bombay, Bhavish Aggarwal is the co-founder of Ola Cabs. He was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
3. Vinod Khosla
Vinod is one of the best IITians from India and is a well-known personality all over the world. He studied at IIT Delhi. Vinod Khosla founded Khosla Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He was on the Forbes 400 list in 2021.
4. Arvind Kejriwal
Chief Minister of National capital Delhi and founder of Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal is among the best IITians of India. Engineer turned politician, Arvind Kejriwal was a notable member of the anti-corruption movement in India.
5. Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi, who did her PhD from IIT-D’s Department of Social Sciences in 1993, became the first Indian female officer in the Indian Police Service and started her service in 1972.
6. Raghuram Govind Rajan
Raghuram Govind Rajan is on the list of best IITians of India who are doing wonders. He received the Director’s Gold Medal from IIT Delhi in 1985. He is an Indian economist and the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
7. Deepinder Goyal
With a degree in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Delhi, Deepinder founded India’s biggest food discovery & delivery app Zomato. Before starting his own venture, Deepinder Goyal worked with Bain & Company.
8. Chetan Bhagat
Columnist and author of India’s bestselling books, Chetan studied at IIT and IIM. He was included in Time magazine’s list of World’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010.
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9. Sachin Bansal
Sachin Bansal is the co-founder of Flipkart, one of the largest e-commerce websites in India. After completing B.Tech. From IIT Delhi, he worked at Amazon and then went on to start the biggest e-commerce website in India.
10. Ruchi Kalra
Ruchi Kalra is an Indian entrepreneur, who is the co-founder of OfBusiness and Oxyzo Financial Services startups that turned into unicorns. Alum of IIT-Delhi, Ruchi did her MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.Â
11. Jitendra Kumar
The face of the Web-series, Panchayat and TVF’s Kota Factory, Jitendra Kumar aka Jeetu Bhaiya probably tops the list of IITians who became successful actors. He earned B.Tech. degree from IIT Kharagpur, and went on to choose a career in a completely different field.
12. Vineeta Singh
Graduated from IIT Madras, Vineeta Singh is a famous Indian entrepreneur, who co-founded Sugar cosmetics with her husband. You can read her inspiring story here.
13. Rohit Bansal
Graduate from IIT Delhi, Rohit Bansal is an Indian entrepreneur who co-founded Snapdeal, an e-commerce company.
14. Parul Gupta
The founder of Springboard earlier known as SlideRule is a platform that encourages learning and provides an alternative to the education system, Parul Gupta, is not just a student of IIT but of Wharton and UCLA.Â
11. Biswa Kalyan Rath
He is on the list of best IITians of India who quit their full-time job to pursue their passion. Biswa Kalyan Rath is a stand-up comedian, writer, YouTuber and best known for his work in Netflix’s comedy film Brahman Naman.
12. Manohar Parrikar
Manohar Parrikar was the first IITian to become a Chief Minister in India. He served as the chief minister of Goa three times and did great work for the state. He was also the Defence Minister of India between 2014 to 2017.
14. Gazal Kalra
Gazal Kalra is an IIT-Delhi alumnus and holds an MBA degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business besides a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Post studies, Gazal joined hands with Deepak Garg to co-found one of the most successful yet challenging venture – Rivigo.
15. N.R. Narayan Murthy
He is the co-founder and former chairman of one of India’s largest technology companies, Infosys. Murthy also received India’s highest honour, the Padma Shri, in the year 2000.
16. Sanjay Sethi
Sanjay Sethi attended IIT, Varanasi and earned a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering. He co-founded ShopClues, an online marketplace for unbranded goods.
17. Anu Meena
Anu Meena is running a company named AgroWave which aims to help farmers and is also an alumnus of IIT Delhi.
18. Parag Agrawal
Last but not least on the list of best IITians of India, is the former CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal. Born in Ajmer town of Rajasthan state, he completed his education at IIT, Bombay and Stanford University. Parag joined Twitter in 2011 and went on to become the CEO in November 2021.
