(from down left) Prof. Amarendra Kumar Das, Pro Vice Chancellor of Tezpur; Chang Hwan Kim, Executive Vice President, Head of the Electrification Energy Solutions Tech Unit and Hyundai CoE Co-Chair; Sudhendu Jyoti Sinha, Advisor of Hyundai CoE; Prof. Ashwini K Agrawal, Dean of IIT Delhi; Tarun Garg, Managing Director of Hyundai Motor India Limited; Prof. Bijaya Ketan Panigrahi, Dean of IIT Delhi and Hyundai CoE Co-Chair (from above left) Eul Kyo Lim, Head of R&D Planning & Coordination Center; Prof. Coimbatore Subramanian Shankar Ram, Associate Dean of IIT Madras; Prof. Shrikrishna Vyankatesh Kulkarni, Dean of IIT Bombay; Prof. Tarun Gupta, Dean of IIT Kanpur; Prof. Garikapati Narahari Sastry, Dean of IIT Hyderabad; Prof. Yashwant Bhaskar Katpatal, Dean of VNIT, Nagpur; Chang Yeon Cho, Head of Hyundai Motor India Engineering CenterHyundai Motor Group is expanding its battery and electrification research network in India by adding four new academic partners under its Hyundai Center of Excellence (Hyundai CoE) initiative. The company has signed agreements with IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur and Tezpur University, expanding the consortium to seven institutions. The new additions join IIT Madras, IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay, which became founding partners when the initiative was launched in 2025.
This initiative aims to accelerate the development of EV technologies tailored for the Indian market while strengthening the country’s research and development ecosystem.
“By bringing together the distinguished professors and emerging researchers from these seven institutes, we can create powerful synergies that will yield immense value for both Hyundai and India’s sustainable growth,” said Chang Hwan Kim, Head of the Electrification Energy Solutions Tech Unit.
Hyundai Motor Group said its India-focused Hyundai Center of Excellence (Hyundai CoE) initiative will focus on research areas including battery cells, battery management systems (BMS), energy density, safety, durability and diagnostic technologies to support electric vehicle development.
The company said the platform is currently advancing 39 joint research projects across seven partner universities. Key projects include battery design and material research tailored for Indian conditions and the development of an artificial intelligence-powered Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) platform.
Hyundai also plans to introduce academic exchange programmes between Indian and Korean researchers as part of efforts to strengthen collaboration in EV technology development. The company said it will host global e-conferences and technology forums involving academia, industry and government stakeholders to support research partnerships.
The automaker said the long-term objective is to develop the Hyundai CoE into a broader research hub focused on supporting India’s transition to electric mobility through collaborative research and technology development.
