Campuses must become incubators for startups, promote innovation: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: Campuses of all the institutes under commerce and textiles ministries should become incubators for startups and look for ways to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.

He suggested this while interacting with the heads and senior faculty members of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), National Institute of Design (NID), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) here. The minister also said these institutions should significantly increase their student intake.

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"The minister called for improving campus placements by marketing ourselves better to the world. He asked the institutions to introspect if their education is tailormade to cater to the needs of tomorrow," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The minister suggested considering having common campuses for more effective utilisation of resources and thinking about merging bodies to strengthen them. Goyal, who holds the commerce, consumer affairs and textiles portfolios, also called for modernisation of campuses, equipment, testing labs and technologies to make them world class.

"The minister also urged campuses to locate prospective GI (Geographical Indications) products and nurture and develop them whenever possible. India has the potential to have upto 2000 GI products," it said. During the interaction, the institutes made presentations on the salient aspects of their structure and functioning and shared their suggestions and requirements for further growth and expansion.

Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah suggested that a core group of the heads of the institution and senior ministry officers may be constituted for more intensive and sustained exchange of ideas and collaboration.