In a major boost to indigenous defence research, IIT Hyderabad and the Indian Army’s Simulator Development Division (SDD) have jointly established a Centre of Excellence (CoE) named VIGRAHA — short for Virtual, Intelligent, Ground-breaking Research in AR/VR & High-tech Applications for Indian Army.
The CoE, inaugurated through a formal MoU with the Army Training Command (Shimla), will drive innovation in augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, robotics, unmanned systems, and defence-grade drones. Officials said the initiative is designed to co-develop tailor-made solutions for the Army’s evolving simulation and battlefield requirements.
Representing the Army’s SDD were Brigadier A.K. Chaturvedi, Col Hari Om Ahlawat and Lt Col Anupam Porwal, while the IIT-H team was led by Director Prof. B.S. Murty, Prof. G. Narahari Sastry (Dean, Sponsored Research & Consultancy) and Dr. Shiva Ji (Associate Professor and Principal Investigator).
Prof. Murty highlighted that the collaboration embodies defence-academia synergy, supporting India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision in advanced military technologies. The MoU also paves the way for joint research projects, academic programs, internships, and incubator-level innovation initiatives.
The Army’s SDD, established in 1991 as the nodal agency for simulator design, is now expanding into AI, AR/VR and robotics. Officials added that VIGRAHA will enhance operational readiness by delivering state-of-the-art training and battlefield simulation tools developed indigenously.
