IIT Kanpur Students Entrepreneurship Policy to foster innovation and enterprise

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has come up with a comprehensive Students Entrepreneurship Policy to foster innovation and the spirit of enterprise among its students, in keeping with the new National Education Policy (NEP) and National Innovation and Start-up Policy (NISP).

The policy, approved by the institute’s Academic Senate, introduces the concept of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Credit, which will enable students to follow their entrepreneurial aspirations as part of their academic journey while pursuing their degrees.

“The challenges of modern industry require students to evolve from passive learners to creators and innovators. This requires universities to be venues where entrepreneurship is fostered in young people, a place where creative ideas spark that can lead to innovations of the future, contributing to realising India’s real innovation and entrepreneurship potential,” IIT Kanpur director Abhay Karandikar said.

Highlights of the Students Entrepreneurship Policy:

-- It is part of academic curricula and open to all eligible students

-- Through this policy, third-year undergraduate students and postgraduate students can gain academic credit while pursuing entrepreneurial activities immediately after completion of the minimum course work

-- Students can avail of semester leave to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship by using facilities both inside and outside the campus

-- Students can found and register their own companies, receiving industry mentoring and funding, patenting and IP management, as well as deferred placement from IIT Kanpur

“Many of the NISP 2019 recommendations for students and faculty are already in place and actively operating at IIT Kanpur. The institute also has a Faculty Entrepreneurship Policy under which faculty members can start a company while continuing as regular employees of the institute. A robust Students’ Entrepreneurship Policy will allow our students to keep pace with the demands of a rapidly developing world. We are one of the first centrally funded technical institutes to frame such a comprehensive policy,” Karandikar said.

IIT Kanpur has one of the largest ecosystems within the Asian region, comprising 11 incubators, five state-of-the-art prototypes, tinkering laboratories and an advanced Science and Technology Park. This ecosystem currently supports and nurtures more than 100 start-ups and has been successful in graduating more than 50 start-ups, including a few unicorns.

This ecosystem will play a significant role in accelerating and implementing the current policy and benefiting the student and research community on campus.