New Delhi, July 14, 2022: The Ten News Network had the great pleasure to talk with Dr. H. Chaturvedi, the Director of the Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH).
BIMTECH has one of the finest Atal Innovation Mission (AIC) Labs – Atal Incubation Centre – BIMTECH. Dr. Chaturvedi talked about the journey of the collaboration of BIMTECH with NITI Aayog. He stated that they applied for AIC labs in 2017. He talked about the start-up process stages under the AIC facilities – Khoj, Gurukul, and Udaan. “Khoj means research, the right kind of start-ups. Gurukul is the grooming time. Udaan is we help them to commercialize and go out.”
“More than 3000 applications were received. Initially, only 13 business schools and universities were provided with the facility,” he explained, “there were initial hiccups and problems, so we had to wait till January 2018.” He said that on 20th January, MP Dr. Mahesh Sharma announced, “we have provided them 20,000 sq. ft. area. Under this facility, we are giving free working space as well as free living space to start at our place.”
“Every time, we have more than 100 start-ups registered with us. It’s a continuous process, any start-up can be allowed to open for 2 years to develop themselves fully and then they exit,” he said regarding the AIC – BIMTECH. “We guide them, mentor them, and coach them.”
He stated that the NITI Aayog funding commitment is around 5 crores for 5 years. “We are expected to give the matching amount. So, we are spending 1 crore every year to take care of the expenses of the Atal Incubation Centre,” he said. “But now, we have also got more than 10 crore funding from different government agencies to provide seed capital to start-ups. We are giving seed capital ranging from Rs. 20 lakhs to 40 lakhs.”
“Through Ten News, we invite all the start-ups looking for this kind of grooming, training, coaching, and mentorship, and also the seed capital,” he said encouragingly, “They should apply on the website of AIC – BIMTECH, and we will definitely help the right kind of start-ups.”
