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Guwahati: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati is known for its high-end research, excellent teaching fraternity, lucrative placement opportunities and technical visions. A conversation with Prof. Parameswar Krishnan Iyer, the Officiating Director at IIT Guwahati, reveals the institute’s role in driving innovation and entrepreneurship in the northeast region. Excerpts:
BNE: What are your thoughts on promoting entrepreneurship culture among the students and faculty of IIT Guwahati?
OD: IIT Guwahati’s responsibility, in addition to high-end research and development, is to see how this can be translated into products or at least give guidance to the students and faculty members on a possibility of converting research into a technology which is not only beneficial for this region but also to other parts of the nation.
We started with a Centre for Technology Incubation Centre (TIC). In the early 2000, efforts were also made to set up a Biotech Park here. I am very happy to share that the Guwahati Biotech park is also incubated at IIT Guwahati. Chief Minister Shri Himanta Bishwa Sharma was one of the Committee Members. He went on to present to the Government of India, the Department of Biotechnology to initiate such a Centre in the Northeast Region and it came up at IIT Guwahati.
BNE: Can you share any experience of working with entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial ventures? How can IIT Guwahati benefit from your experience in this area?
OD: Personally, I have been very fortunate to work with lot of different entrepreneurs in the region.
There was a small entrepreneur from Nagaland who was working on technologies related to Hair Dye. They came to us and mentioned that the hair products they clean and send it to Europe have got complaints that the chemical content in the hair is too high. They needed to reduce the chemical content to make it acceptable by the European market. We did a consultative project but we did not go with a fees paying mode. We told them that this can be done in a much milder condition. We showed them that how using very milder condition we can do this treatment.
The second was developing new materials that can be used in renewable energy-based devices. These partners came up and they took lot of our patents.
During the pandemic, it is the only institute which converted all the technologies to product level and we have been supplying these products to 22 different states and lot of organisations, government as well as private, to take up the testing at a very nominal rate.
BNE: How do you plan to ensure that IIT Guwahati plays a leadership role in driving innovation and entrepreneurship in the region?
OD: Being a leading institute of this region and also of the nation, innovation has always been the main focus. Every department, every centre and every school of the institute always thrives for developing innovative methods and products in every aspect of research and every aspect of work they do. Definitely, along with innovation entrepreneurship also comes in a big way. As we move on from a developing nation to a developed nation we have to be self-reliant.
Definitely, there is lot of support from different organisations, banks and philanthropists. Lot of people have now trust that technologies are being developed by IIT are at the best level of the world. What we exactly are thriving is that when we realise that a student working in the lab, when a young faculty is working in a laboratory, if he or she has a good idea and if there is a potential to take it to the next level we intervene and we help them.
BNE: In your opinion, what are the key challenges in fostering a successful startup ecosystem in India, especially in Northeast India? How do you plan to address these challenges at IIT Guwahati?
OD: The next generation is finding it easier who has the technology and idea to take it to the product level. Institutes like IIT ( but there are also many private institutes and organisations in this region) who are supporting these kinds of ideas can nurture them. In fact, nurturing them already and converting them to product level. At IIT, we have various avenues where these product can be converted into products. At the student level, we have a cell called Entrepreneurship Cell. That is the very first cell. So, this is also a curriculum that we are introducing at the undergraduate level. If a students want to set up a company or if he or she is willing to start up some entrepreneurship we are offering them a sort of course. Rather than doing a project these students can also take up entrepreneurship as part of their course. We give credit for it.
Similarly, there is the Department of Biotechnology-sponsored Centre called BioNEST. There are three or four BioNEST in this region which promotes entrepreneurial activities in the biological sector and healthcare sector. BioNEST have also been successful in promoting women entrepreneurs with proper support and technological knowledge.
BNE: How do you envision a collaboration between industry and academia at IIT Guwahati, particularly in the area of entrepreneurship?’
OD: When we were graduating, we only knew that if I want to do research, funding will come from government agencies. But if you see the trend in the developing countries and developed countries what happens is that most of the real funding for research and development comes from the industries. That trend is slowly coming to academic institutes like IIT.
We are blessed with lot of bioresources. Northeast India is called Biodiversity hotspot. There are technologies related to bamboo, rice and sugarcanes.
The other big thrust is the generation of Green Hydrogen which the Prime Minister recently mentioned. Hydrogen is the most efficient chemical fuel. Cambridge and Reliance Industries is working with us for developing green hydrogen.
Other technologies are of the Electric Vehicle. There is a start-up company… We are helping them to make the vehicle lighter.
BNE: How do you plan to ensure that entrepreneurship education and training are an integral part of the academic curriculum at IIT Guwahati?
OD: We are now very enthusiastically taking up the New Education Policy (NEP) 2022 that was launched by the government. We now have almost all branches at offer. We have very strong science and design departments which is one of the first in the country. We also have management schools of business and we are also moving towards other sectors like the drone technology. We have artificial intelligence and data science which is coming up in a very big way. They have applications in the healthcare sector. We also moved into nanotechnology, health science and technology. Other major things that has happened over the years is medical school in IIT Guwahati. From one branch we have moved on to multidisciplinary branch. We are creating an ecosystem thinking if you want to develop a product from a normal research institute to a institute which promote entrepreneurship or product development.
BNE: In your view, what are the key skills and attributes that an entrepreneur needs to succeed? How can these skills be developed and nurtured at IIT Guwahati?
OD: Lot of times it happens that students come with brilliant ideas. Firstly, we should encourage them. Secondly, we must see what technological help can be provided. We tell them to design a product and tell them what the market requirement is. That is very very important. That is the reason. I have mentioned that we need experts from different backgrounds. A person of management tell them what to make and not making something. This really helps the entrepreneur to start in a big way.
BNE: Can you share any success stories of startups that have been incubated at IIT Guwahati? How do you plan to build on this success and create more success stories in the future?
OD: We are really looking to do different start-ups from a set of offices we have. But, there is no upper limit, Through any organisation that want to join with us, or any school, any department or centres or even individuals who have any ideas, we are promoting that. Last year we had a very big event called Northeast Research Council (NERC). There Guwahati Declaration was signed. That year, it was decided that we should help 100 graduate entrepreneurs into some kinds of products. All the centres I have mentioned have their entrepreneurship cell. If anyone have an idea of developing a product and can take it to the level in which it can be manufactured definitely some institute from the office can be provided. This message should also go to the rural areas.
BNE: What are your thoughts on the role of government policies in promoting entrepreneurship? How can IIT Guwahati work with the government to create a conducive environment for startups and entrepreneurs in the region?
OD: Government has really been active in this aspect. We are working now in the area of skill development offices to develop specific skills for specific application. For example we have been working very closely with the weaving community. We are working with the government agencies and skill development authorities and the entrepreneur’s organisation to see how our expertise, our knowledge from different departments and from different sectors of the institute work jointly with them and help them to improve their existing way of working, the technology they are using, modify them a little bit, thus, make life simpler for them and at the end, make many better products through their existing knowledge itself. It’s not that we replace them.
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