IIT Jammu enters strategic tripartite agreement to drive regional innovation

JAMMU: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jammu, on Sunday formalized a collaboration by signing a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) and three pioneering start-ups here to accelerate translational research, foster technology-driven entrepreneurship and bolster regional economic development, an official said.

The MoU was inked by IIT Jammu Director Manoj Singh Gaur and CSIR-IIIM Jammu Director Jammu Zabeer Ahmed in the presence of senior scientists, faculty and officials from both institutions. The representatives of the three start-ups — Songbaran Chatterjee (Biogreen Projects), Manigandan Kumarappan (Evlogia Eco Care) and Mahadeva Swamy (Crop Domain) — also participated in the ceremony, marking their induction into this collaborative framework, the official said.

He said the key pillars of the partnership include leveraging CSIR-IIIM’s strengths in natural product discovery and drug development alongside IIT Jammu’s engineering expertise to co\R‐ develop market-ready technologies.

CSIR-IIIM-TBI and IIT Jammu’s I3C incubator will provide mentoring, prototyping facilities and investor connect to nurture these ventures, while organizing workshops, industry\R‐ oriented training programs and knowledge\R‐ exchange events will be facilitated to cultivate local talent and generate new employment opportunities under the pact, the official said.

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IIT Jammu, CSIR IIIM partnership

The MoU will also help streamlining pathways for laboratory innovations to reach commercial deployment in healthcare, sustainable materials and agri-biotech sectors, he added. The collaboration would be jointly governed by senior leadership from IIT Jammu and CSIR-IIIM in close partnership with the three start-ups, fostering an ecosystem where science, technology and entrepreneurship intersect to drive India’s innovation-led growth, the official said. Senior officials from both organizations underscored the MoU’s potential to transform Jammu into a hub of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence.

Gaur said "this tripartite alliance exemplifies IIT Jammu’s commitment to bridging cutting-edge research with societal impact". "By combining our engineering capabilities with CSIR-IIIM’s life-science expertise and dynamic start-ups, we will fast-track the development and commercialization of solutions that benefit our region and beyond,” he added.