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Hyundai Motor and Kia have partnered with top Indian engineering institutes to expand industry-academic cooperation to secure core technologies for electric vehicle batteries and electrification, expanding the joint research system across the entire region. The moves accelerate their push into the Indian market by widening the scope of localization beyond simple domestic production to include research and development alongside talent acquisition.

Following collaborations with three IIT campuses last year, the Hyundai Innovation Center was established. Hyundai Motor and Kia announced on May 15, local time, that a total of four universities—including the Indian Institutes of Technology in Hyderabad and Kanpur, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur, and Tezpur University—signed contracts to join the joint research framework of the Hyundai Future Mobility Innovation Center.

The signing ceremony was attended by Tarun Garg, CEO of Hyundai Motor India Headquarters, and Kim Chang-hwan, vice president of electrification energy solutions at Hyundai Motor and Kia, alongside deans and officials from each university.

IIT is considered India's finest engineering education institution, while VNIT Nagpur is recognized for its strengths in applied research in EV systems, thermal management, and power electronics. Tezpur University also serves as a specialized research hub for northeastern India.

In April last year, Hyundai Motor and Kia launched the Hyundai Innovation Center, a mid-to-long-term strategic industry-academic cooperation model aimed at boosting market responsiveness through shared growth with India's technology and manufacturing sectors alongside top-tier universities like IIT Madras, Delhi, and Bombay.

With four elite engineering schools joining the industry-academic ecosystem today, the center's joint research network effectively expands across all of India. With contracts signed with these four additional institutions, thirty-nine industry-academic research projects are now underway.

Led by the Hyundai Innovation Center, top talents from seven universities nationwide will carry out these projects, covering battery and electrification sectors as well as advanced materials research and AI-based V2G platform development.

Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to focus on developing localized battery designs and electrification performance through joint research with India's brightest minds, while driving the cultivation of top talent and strengthening capabilities for future mobility development.

As part of this academic collaboration, deans and professors from all seven participating universities will be invited to South Korea this June. The program will feature in-depth discussions on cooperation strategies and offer firsthand experiences of the vision, technology, and strategy driving Hyundai Motor and Kia.

The automakers will also establish a foundation for organic cooperation that goes beyond bilateral technology exchanges—such as proposing industry standards required for electrification—by hosting an "e-Conference" where global scholars and industry experts can discuss the latest tech trends in batteries and electrification, alongside a tech-policy forum bringing together government officials, research institutes, and academia.

"The master agreement we sign today is more than just a contract; it is a shared commitment to the future," said Kim Chang-hwan, vice president of electrification energy solutions at Hyundai Motor and Kia, adding that "Together, Hyundai Motor Group and Indian academia will build a sustainable, innovative, and brighter tomorrow."