Srinagar: National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar has been selected as TIFAC Academic Partner (TAP) for J&K region with a financial support of Rs 40 lakhs under TIFAC MSME Program by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development (IIED) Centre will get Rs 40 lakhs from TIFAC for assessing technology needs of MSMEs, especially in context of local requirements with respect to becoming “AtmaNirbhar”. The duration of support will be for a period of up to 2 years.
Director NIT Srinagar, Prof. (Dr.) Sehgal said the IIED Centre, NIT Srinagar has been selected for a financial grant under the TIFAC MSME Program calling it a proud movement for the institute. The IIED Centre is actively involved in various innovation and entrepreneurship-related activities for last couple of years.
The director extended greetings to Dr Saad Parvez and Dr Noor Zaman Khan for their hard work for the proposals. Prof. Sehgal said Dr Saad (PI) and Dr Noor (Co-PI) submitted the project and they are the investigators for the TIFAC MSME project.
The director said that the grant will be utilized to strengthen the interaction between academia and MSME industries towards identifying the technological gap areas. He said NIT Srinagar is the only institute selected as TIFAC Academic Partner by DST for Jammu and Kashmir.
Institute’s Registrar, Prof. Syed Kaiser Bukhari congratulated IIED Centre team for being selected under the TIFAC MSME program by DST.
He said the TIFAC MSME project will boost industry-academia collaboration in the valley and will also provide opportunities for the students related to industry exposure.
Prof. Bukhari also congratulated Dr Saad and Dr Noor for their marvellous achievements in making NIT Srinagar administration proud.
He said this grant support is recommended by DST, New Delhi-based on the incredible innovation and incubation capabilities of the IIED centre of the Institute.
Prof. Bukhari said the grant will benefit the institute and local MSME’s in terms of technology development in various clusters including Bat cluster, Pashmina weaving cluster etc. and will encourage initiating start-ups.
Dr Saad, Head IIED congratulated the IIED Centre team and the whole institute. He said the grant will boost the Industry-Academia relationship.
He said the IIED Centre is trying best for the development of the institute and also contributing significantly to innovation and entrepreneurship.
Dr Saad also said that such grants are very important to push the institute’s development to the next level and added that NIT Srinagar has been taking a lead role in this regard.
He also added that this grant will help in providing hands-on engagement and practical experience to the students and faculty on existing technical challenges in the industry and nurturing an innovation ecosystem that benefits both the industry as well as the technical institution.
Dr Saad mentioned that the IIED Centre of NIT Srinagar aims to coordinate and leverage through Innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship, an ecosystem fostering a culture of cutting-edge technology making NIT Srinagar the harbinger of innovation in Jammu and Kashmir in science and technology by offering technical solutions through incubation with emphasis on national growth and social upliftment.
Dr Noor said the grant will be utilized in establishing a platform for the MSME cluster industries to access R&D and technical support leveraging the knowledge base of faculty and knowledgeable human resource in the form of students from NIT Srinagar.
TIFAC was formed as a registered Society in February, 1988 under the Department of Science and Technology as an autonomous body. Its activities encompass a wide array of technology areas and fill a critical gap in the overall S&T system of India.