NEW DELHI — In a major milestone for regional educational cooperation, Sri Lanka has officially inaugurated its first “Atal” Tinkering Lab. The initiative brings India’s successful hands-on STEM education model to Colombo’s historic Nalanda College, signaling a shared effort between the two neighboring nations to foster a collaborative innovation ecosystem.
The state-of-the-art facility, housed inside the Centenary Building at Nalanda College, was developed by Atlas Axillia—the education sector arm of Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings. Technical assistance was provided by India’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog, with direct facilitation from the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
The lab was officially opened during a ceremony attended by India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, Hemas Holdings Group CEO Ashish Chandra, and former Sri Lankan cricket captain Mahela Jayawardena, an alumnus of Nalanda College.
Addressing the gathering, High Commissioner Santosh Jha detailed the transformative impact of the initiative in India, where over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs have been operationalized across major metropolitan hubs and small rural villages alike. He noted that Indian students have used these spaces to build products like automated irrigation systems and smart canes for the visually impaired, describing the core philosophy of the program as teaching children that a problem is not a wall, but an invitation.
Hemas Holdings Group CEO Ashish Chandra emphasized that the Nalanda facility sets a high benchmark for future international expansions. Having visited multiple tinkering labs across India, Chandra highlighted that the newly established facility in Sri Lanka is one of its kind in the world and will serve as a global model and reference point going forward.
The inauguration marks the first time India’s flagship Atal Innovation Mission infrastructure has been adapted in Sri Lanka, opening new avenues for cross-border student collaboration, practical experimentation, and technological development across South Asia.
