Gandhinagar: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah Sunday said that India’s design sector needed opportunities similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL) model in cricket to ensure talented young people could pursue design as a viable profession without hesitation.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Incubation and Innovation Centre at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Gandhinagar, HM Shah said creative disciplines often struggle to attract wider participation unless they offer stable career prospects and commercial opportunities.
Drawing a comparison with cricket, the Home Minister recalled that even legendary cricketers such as Sunil Gavaskar once received modest payments despite their talent.
“Sunil Gavaskar ji used to receive Rs 500 for a five-day Test match. Parents used to tell children, ‘What will you do? You will starve. Prepare for exams’,” HM Shah said.
He said perceptions towards cricket changed significantly after the launch of the IPL, which transformed the sport into a financially attractive career option.
“After the arrival of IPL, parents now say, ‘Play cricket, you may become something,’” he said.
Using the comparison to explain the challenges faced by young designers, the Home Minister said the commercial potential of design talent in India had not yet been fully explored.
“NID was established in Gujarat so that the commercial potential of your discipline and your art can be explored one hundred per cent,” he said.
HM Shah said many talented students still hesitated to choose design as a career because of uncertainty over professional opportunities and recognition.
He urged NID to create systems that could connect designers with industry requirements and commercial platforms.
He suggested that the institution should consider creating a separate vertical dedicated to the commercialisation of design work.
“Here, there are people of design. There are no people here who commercialise it. NID will also have to bring these two together,” HM Shah said.
The Home Minister also referred to vehicles designed by Indian designer Pratap Bose that were showcased during the event.
HM Shah said Indian designers often did not receive the same international exposure as foreign designers despite possessing similar capabilities.
“If the same car had been designed by a Japanese designer, could there be any comparison between the recognition received by Pratap Bose and by the Japanese designer? There can be none,” he said.
HM Shah said the expansion of design education and awareness was necessary across sectors ranging from industrial parks to semiconductors and chip manufacturing.
He added that NID should work towards integrating design more deeply into industry and society.
The event was attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, NID officials, faculty members and students.
During the programme, HM Shah also visited the Gandhinagar campus and interacted with students and faculty.
He described NID as an institution linking creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and said the country needed to create an environment where more young people could confidently choose design as a profession.
