Entrepreneurship is now a global phenomenon and an academic discipline that can be taught through proper counselling and training interventions. Considering its advantages, several international universities and management institutes are today offering full-fledged courses on entrepreneurship.
In India, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad, Gujarat is a National resource Institute in the field of entrepreneurship education, training, research, and institution building. EDII has been spearheading entrepreneurship nationally and globally through various outcome-based interventions and policy advocacy.
Entrepreneurship scenario in India and EDII
India aims to become one of the most sought-after destinations for start-ups and entrepreneurship through the amalgamation of proactive policies, strong institutional setup, and dynamic participation of the private sector. Measures have been instituted to create a conducive ecosystem by facilitating the creation of start-up unicorns through collaboration between state governments, industry, and institutions, creating intrastate regional centres for start-ups, and addressing start-up concerns through innovative and sustainable solutions. To enhance the start-up propensity among students, it is most important to have well-directed training and mentoring, supportive state-wise policies, experiential mentorship, and a strong network of angel investors and venture capitalists.
For instance, the start-up and the scale-up manifesto of Gujarat involve the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP) of the Education Department and the Start-up Scheme as part of the Industry Policy of the state. The focal point of SSIP is the students and it stands on the cornerstones of awareness, attitude, technology, and innovation.
EDII is the Nodal Institute for Start-up Support, Govt. of Gujarat, and is implementing the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP), Govt. of Gujarat. EDII was the pioneer in launching a full-time academic programme in entrepreneurship in 1998. This application-oriented, outcome-based learning has so far groomed close to 1730 students.
Innovative ideas by EDII students to face the ongoing crisis
Just when everything was going smooth, the pandemic hit us hard. It has certainly affected the approach to entrepreneurial business models and will have a lasting impact on how entrepreneurship is perceived as a choice in the future. Although a large number of start-ups have suffered during this period, it has also led to an increase in entrepreneurial activity. Companies and individuals across the world have rallied to respond to, and wherever possible, tackle this crisis. There is a definitive surge in creativity to respond to existing or emerging needs. It is here that entrepreneurship training and counselling of entrepreneurs make a difference.
Seeing the plight of farmers during the nationwide lockdown, the team of Phycolinc Technologies (a start-up incubated at EDII’s Technology Business Incubator) turned towards increasing the productivity of crops using biofertilizer. The start-up focuses on raising farm income per hectare through quality and productivity improvement of the crop. They aim at community level enterprise creation by supporting manufacturing of biofertilizer by entrepreneurs within the local community.
The Healthcare sector saw several innovations to aid existing healthcare functioning. Harsh Shah, Alumni, EDII-PG programme, has founded a start-up named ShiUV India (OPC) Pvt. Ltd., focusing on the development of advanced disinfection technologies for various standard and customised applications. Their flagship product GermiWand is germicidal – i.e. it deactivates the DNA of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens and destroys their ability to multiply and cause disease. GW sterilizes any surface with powerful UVC light & kills up to 99% of surface germs and bacteria, including the Coronavirus strain.
Hetika Shah, a second-year student of PDGM- E, EDII, recently won the coveted “SheThe People Digital Women Award” for the year 2020. Hetika was felicitated under the COVID-19 Impact category for her enterprise ‘4SSheild’ that manufactures innovative and state-of-the-art face shields and masks for frontline COVID warriors. It is the first-of-its-kind company in India, providing so far, the highest protection to all sensory organs, i.e. up to 96%. Hetika is looking forward to implementing her classroom learning and business principles at her enterprise that would escalate her business prospects even more in the days to come.
“Hands-on training is the essence of EDII’s flagship PGDM-E programme. This outcome-oriented programme is designed to connect the theory of innovation and entrepreneurship with practice and enabling students to acquire industry-relevant skills. This facilitates learning on the management of innovation, entrepreneurship, and venture development from foundation to advanced stages and simultaneously empowers students to apply their entrepreneurial skills and build a successful venture out of it.” Dr Satya Ranjan Acharya, Incharge, Dept. of Entrepreneurship Education, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India signs off.
To know more, click here http://ediindia.ac.in/
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by Digpu News Network. No HT journalist is involved in creation of this content.
