As many 8,847 students have received at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Hyderabad held on Sunday. Of these, as many as 7,429 candidates belonged to the Work Integrated Learning Programme (WILP) of the institute.

“As many as 1,057 students have received their first degree, 289 students received their higher degrees and 72 scholars received their PhD degrees,” a spokesperson of the institute said. The Hyderabad campus of the institute was established in 2008.

First-degree students P Smriti, Abhishek Mukherjee and Vikramjeet Das received Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for their outstanding performance. The BITS Ratna Award, a newly institute award, has been awarded to Prashanth Palakurthi, a student of the 1984 batch. The Distinguished Service Award is awarded to Captain K Ravi Shankar (posthumous) in recognition of exceptional bravery and supreme sacrifice for the country.

Srivari Chandrasekhar, the Secretary of Depart of Science and Technology (GoI), and the former Director of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) was the Chief Guest. Nandan Reddy (the Co-founder of Swiggy), T M Vijay Bhaskar (IAS 1983 batch Karnataka cadre) and Jagadeesh Babu Rangisetty (Founder and CEO of Biophore India Pharmaceuticals) were conferrred Distinguished alumnus award.