IIT Bombay to Launch a Rs 100-crore Innovation Centre cum Research Park in July 2014
Institutions are realizing the importance of research, and as a result there has been some outstanding changes in this particular field. According to reports, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), one of the country’s top technical institutes, has announced that it would be coming up with a Rs. 100 Crore research park cum entrepreneurship center in July 2014.
The coffee shops down the IIT-B, Powai avenue has been raided by techies, whose banters revolve around nanotechnology, venture capital and start-ups. The attitudes in IIT-B campus too, are changing. Young techies who believe anything is possible under the sun are starting ventures right from inside the IIT campuses. With the recent success of companies like Housing.com and Ola Cabs that were launched by ex-IITians, have certainly put this new entrepreneurial attitude under the limelight. As a result this has turned these educational institutes a hot bed for aspiring research entrepreneurs.
As expected, that with this research park and entrepreneurship center – IIT-Bombay is going to emerge as the hotspot of Indian entrepreneurial activities. IIT-B also hopes to generate a never ending supply of wealth of new knowledge, new technology and also new flourishing companies. This ambitious project of the Entrepreneurship Centre and Research Park of IIT-B is all set to offer more encouragement to entrepreneurial skills of its students and it is little doubt that is certainly going to have a telling effect over the future prospect of the country as a whole.
Apart from an amount of Rs. 5 Crore that IIT-Bombay is going to donate for the development of this new facility, the project will also receive about Rs.100 Crore funding from the HRD Ministry of the Government of India. Neerja Sethi and Syntel Co-founders Bharat Desai, who is also an ex-IITian Bombay will also be contributing a major part of the development of the center that will be named as the ‘Desai Sethi Centre for Entrepreneurship’.
This upcoming center is said to be focusing on fostering entrepreneurial and technological innovation by means of extensive research conducted upon multi-disciplinary courses by the students. Of course, this will be under the guidance and mentor-ship of the IIT-B faculties and also international guest faculties who will be regularly attending the center.
A sprawling area of 2 lakh sq.ft has already been allotted within the IIT campus for the development of the park that will be housing more than 200 Research and Development Units. And this will also be the first time that an IIT will make its programs available for outsiders as well for development units of some private sector companies will also be collaborating.