Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 3: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here has decided to set up the state’s first technology incubator on its permanent campus at Jatni from the next academic year to encourage entrepreneurship among students.
The proposed technology incubator will help students shaping their start-up ideas, sources said. The centre, unlike most other incubators in the country, will be hosted and developed solely by experts of IITBBS and is likely to provide students access to other government agencies.
“Entrepreneurship in India is on the verge of explosive growth. Many people are coming up with brilliant start-up ideas. The need here is to just shape those ideas and give them scope to develop. The technology incubator will serve this common purpose,” said IITBBS director Ratnam Vadra Rajakumar.
There are around 50 incubation centres in the country, some of which are hosted by other IITs such as Madras and Bombay and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmadabad. The other incubators include the one at Technopark in Kerala and Knowledge Park in Hyderabad.
“We will encourage students to enrol in the institute after their graduation and utilise the facilities,” said Rajakumar.
The incubation centre will initially be meant for students of IITBBS. However, the premier institute plans to extend the support of the centre to others students in the later phase. “Students after graduating can stay back on the campus and make use of laboratories, library and the expertise of faculties to develop their entrepreneurship skills,” said the director.
