BITS Pilani confers degrees on record 15,153 working professionals

BITS Pilani’s Work Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP) held its 2026 Convocation at the Hyderabad campus, conferring degrees upon a record 15,153 working professionals across 30 specialized disciplines. The graduating cohort, which doubled in size compared to the previous year, included over 2,000 women, 167 medical doctors, 60 defence personnel, and more than 80 international learners from 15 nations.

The ceremony featured a ‘phygital’ graduation format, combining physical presence with a custom Metaverse stage for an immersive virtual experience. The event was presided over by Chief Guest Atul B. Lall, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Dixon Technologies, alongside BITS Pilani leadership including Vice Chancellor Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao and Director-in-Charge Prof. S. Gurunarayanan.

According to BITS Pilani Chancellor Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, the event underscores the need to dissolve the traditional boundaries between education and employment to support India’s economic trajectory. The graduating class reflected key industrial sectors, with 46% focused on technology and digital domains, and 35% representing engineering, manufacturing, and infrastructure.