Providing budding entrepreneurs with a chance to present their ideas on the bigger stage and win the necessary support to implement them, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) is organising its annual business plan contest this month.

This is the fourth edition of i2i (ideas to implementation), one of the flagship events on the B-school's roster, and as always, the event has drawn entries from the best of the academic institutes and the corporate world.

?We were flooded with entries in the first round. A panel of judges shortlisted 10 ideas from the pool of entries and these teams will now compete against each other in the final stage,? explained a spokesperson for the students? body, which organises the event under the aegis of the institute?s entrepreneurship cell.

The event was first conceived in 2001 and organised with the objective of promoting entrepreneurship initiatives among the student community across academic institutes.

Last year, the organisers decided to allow entries from the corporate world as well.

?The competition has grown with time and today, it is one of the biggest business plan contests in the country,? said the spokesperson.

By the rules of the game, the contestants submit executive summaries of their projects, which a panel of judges ? drawn from the world of business and academics ? evaluate. Ten of the ideas are selected.

These 10 teams are now preparing their final business plans, ranging from viability to marketing strategy for their products, which they will present before the final-round judges on February 13.

In this stage, a panel of mentors is helping the finalists prepare their final plan.

The list of finalists includes participants from IIMs in Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Indore and IIT Kharagpur, besides a couple of teams from the corporate world.

The top three ideas will not only win prize money and mementos, but their business plans will also get the much-needed kickstart from venture capital funds.

The select few will be provided with incubation, and the winners will be provided with complete support in their efforts to set up and execute the plan conceived.

?IndiaCo is our main sponsor, and they have agreed to chip in with the seed money and other support to help some of the best ideas mature into successful businesses,? said the spokesperson.