IIMC innovation park forges alliances with Assam institutes to bolster North-East entrepreneurship

Kolkata, Nov 24 (PTI) IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) on Monday announced strategic partnerships with three leading institutions in Assam to strengthen the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The collaborations with IIT Guwahati, Assam Skill University, and Assam Royal Global University will create an integrated pipeline that nurtures talent from the grassroots level to advanced deep-tech ventures, transforming the innovation landscape in the state and entire North-East India, a statement said.

The initiative represents a comprehensive, multi-layered approach. The partnership with Assam Skill University will focus on democratising entrepreneurship by establishing Entrepreneurship Development Cells (EDCs) across academic institutions and training educators through specialised "Train the Trainer" programmes, it said.

The MoU with IIT Guwahati and its BioNEST centre will facilitate co-incubation for deep-tech and biotechnology startups. This will provide promising ventures with shared access to state-of-the-art prototyping labs, specialised mentorship, and a wider network of investors and corporates.

To foster a startup culture among youth, IIMCIP will also work with Assam Royal Global University to set up EDCs, organise business plan contests, and provide incubation support to student-led ventures.

"With these three MoUs, we are strengthening every layer of the North-East's innovation value chain... building a connected pipeline that nurtures talent at every stage," said Ajay Jain, chairman, IIMCIP.

He added that the unified effort is aimed at ensuring the North-East emerges as "one of India's most vibrant innovation corridors." Additionally, a related initiative will establish student-led "Build Clubs" on the university campus to promote hands-on product-building skills among engineering students. PTI BSM SUS RG