IIT Gandhinagar team wins Rs 20 lakh grant for indigenous cooling technology for EVs, AI data centres

A research team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar has won a Rs 20 lakh seed grant for developing an indigenous cooling technology designed for electric vehicles (EVs), AI-driven data centres, railways, and high-performance electronics. The grant was awarded at the Materials Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Expo (‘MATRIx 2026') organised by the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM).

The IITGN team developed a new manufacturing approach for liquid cold plates under the project titled “Advanced Chill Tech”.

According to the institute's press release, the technology aims to address two major industrial challenges – thermal management in rapidly expanding AI data centres and safety concerns related to EV battery cooling systems.

“The technology has reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7, with prototypes successfully validated in an operational environment,” IIT Gandhinagar said.

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The project was led by Amit Arora, associate professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at IITGN, along with final-year doctoral students Prachi Sharma and Rizwan Qureshi.

IIT Gandhinagar: Cooling technology

Liquid cold plates are metal components with internal cooling channels that help remove heat from high-power electronic systems. These components are widely used in EV battery systems, railways, aerospace, defence equipment, data centres, and industrial electronics.

The research team developed the technology using a process called “Friction Stir Channeling” (FSC), which creates internal cooling channels in a single metal plate without melting the material.

According to IITGN, the largest prototype developed by the team can withstand pressures of more than 35 bar and has successfully passed fatigue and tensile testing.

Explaining the challenge with existing manufacturing methods, Amit Arora said, “Brazing’s success rate runs at only about 40% to 60% with a large fraction of plates being scrapped for hidden defects or leaks. With the cold plates being manufactured by fusing multiple joints, any potential leak is not a nuisance but an electrical and thermal hazard.”

Further, he added, “To overcome these limitations, we have developed a manufacturing approach based on ‘Friction Stir Channeling’ (FSC). Instead of joining multiple components, the process creates integrated internal cooling channels within a single metal plate using a rotating tool that plastically deforms the material without melting it.”

IITGN indigenous tech for ‘Make in India’

The researchers said the technology could reduce manufacturing time, energy consumption, material waste, and carbon emissions while supporting the ‘Make in India’ and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.

The team has filed an Indian patent application titled “A Friction Stir Channeled Cooling Plate” jointly with industry partner Epsilon Engineering Pvt Ltd.

Prachi Sharma, a doctoral student involved in the project, said, “Our objective was to develop an alternative manufacturing approach that addresses the limitations of conventional liquid cold plate fabrication while making the technology more accessible for the Indian industry.”

IITGN Tech: Applications in railways, EVs, data centres

The institute said the technology has immediate applications in railways, where liquid cold plates are used for cooling high-power electronic systems in metro coaches and high-speed trains.

The innovation can also be used in EV battery thermal management systems, AI data centres, GPU cooling, power electronics, aerospace, defence systems, and metallurgical industries.

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Rizwan Qureshi, who led the manufacturing process development, said, “Winning the ₹20 lakh seed grant at IIM Matrix 2026 is a proud milestone for our team. It will enable us to bridge the gap between laboratory research and market deployment, helping us transform a promising research outcome into a viable technology venture. The funding will support larger-scale testing, intellectual property development, product refinement, and commercialisation efforts.”

He added, “Scaling the process from laboratory-scale channels to industrial-scale cooling plates required extensive optimisation of tool design and process parameters. Successfully demonstrating repeatable manufacturing and validating the prototypes with industry partners gave us the confidence to move towards commercialisation.”