India, June 11 -- The Story of India's Most Prestigious Educational Ecosystem, by Prabhat Kumar, IRS officer and Chairman of PanIIT Alumni India, offers a sweeping account of the evolution of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) from a post-Independence nation-building project to a globally influential educational and innovation ecosystem.

The book traces the origins of the IIT movement to 1951, when the foundation stone of IIT Kharagpur was laid at the site of the former Hijli Detention Camp in West Bengal. The transformation of a colonial prison into a centre of learning was seen as deeply symbolic of India's future - a catalyst for scientific and technological progress.

Today, India's 23 IITs boast more than 500,000 alumni worl...