Journal of African Development

With India keen to be self-sufficient by 2047, there are  lot of start-ups coming up which are enhancing India’s capabilities in terms of being self-sustainable to achieve the vision of "Make in India". Indian premier higher education institutes namely Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian School of Business (ISB), and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), are creating an ecosystem which promotes an environment of ideation and innovation. These premier institutes have also incubated various startups and have developed entrepreneurial skills amongst its students. Prestigious institutes such as IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, and ISB Hyderabad have established world-class incubation centers, including IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Madras’ Incubation Cell, IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship (CIIE.CO), and ISB’s DLabs Incubator.

These centres provide basic funding, mentorship and infrastructure facilities to support young entrepreneurs to start their journey and establish their start-ups along with networking opportunities. Various hackathons, business plan competitions and workshops on leadership are conducted to impart hands on experience to students. Nationwide initiatives like the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Startup India, along with institutional accelerators, have further strengthened the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Despite all the progress made, higher education institutes other than IITs, IIMs, and ISBs face many difficulties in fostering entrepreneurship. To reduce this gap, this paper suggests strengthening the partnerships between public and private institutes, improving the access to funding opportunities, designing programs which are inclusive in nature to target underrepresented groups like women entrepreneurs