How are incubators in tier 2 and 3 cities performing vs metros? NITI Aayog looks for answer

How are the incubators led by university faculty different from those being steered by industry professionals? 

How are the incubators in tier 2 and 3 placed compared to their counterparts based in the metros? 

What dominant models have emerged from the Indian start-up ecosystem over the last decade?

Policy think-tank NITI Aayog is looking for answers to all these questions and aims to rope in a leading university or institute to prepare a detailed roadmap to make India, the global capital for entrepreneurship by 2047. 

The Aayog has invited varsities to submit proposals for a diagnostic study that would help in fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in educational bodies and make India the global capital for entrepreneurship by 2047. 

According to the commission, the aim of the study is to provide research-based insights to NITI Aayog that would be used in policy recommendations for architecting the next phase of growth and expansion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship across 'India' and 'Bharat'.

What the Study entails?

One of the fundamental tasks of the study is to discover the dominant models that have emerged in the Indian start-up ecosystem. The selected institute would examine in detail the Incubator Ecosystem in Indian Higher Education Institutions.

The study would aim to gain an in-depth understanding of a range of issues related to incubators like - Opportunities for collaborations with local industry players for pilots or investment etc, opportunities for collaboration with State Innovation Councils or leamings from women-led start-ups and women-centric programmes led by incubators.

The study would also focus on approaches for supporting and scaling high-performing start-ups. 

It would also examine the institutional ability to support non-service sector startups like deep-tech, biotech, clean-tech, agri-tech, etc.

It will also find ways in which a financial ecosystem can be created around successful Incubator ecosystems that have shown substantial promise over the last 7-10 years.

Three aspects

Overall, the NITI Aayog wants studies in three specific areas. 

The first aspect is e a diagnostic study of the 100-odd incubators in higher education institutions. The second aspect is a longitudinal study that would trace the milestones in the multi-decade journey of the ecosystems in the 5 identified countries- Germany, USA, Israel, Singapore, and China.

The third aspect is an exploratory examination of the new incubator eco-svstems in the Indian Hinterland.

Atal Innovation Mission

The study is a collaborative endeavour between the NITI Aayog and the Atal Innovation Mission. The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) supports the establishment of new incubation centres called the Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) that nurture innovative start-up businesses. 

The AICs aspire to create world-class incubation facilities across various parts of India with suitable physical infrastructure. 

Currently, HEIs, R&D institutes, corporate sector, alternative investment funds registered with SEBI, business accelerators, groups of individuals, and individuals are eligible to apply for the AIC programme. 

AlM provides a grant-in-aid of up to Rs 10 crores for a maximum period of five years for AICs and three years to the EICs (Established Incubation centres) for scale-up to cover capital and operational expenses. 

In the future, more AICs would be set up in sector specific areas such as Advanced Manufacturing, agriculture, cyber-security, defence, education, Energy and Cleantech, Health, Transport and Mobility, Water and Sanitation etc, says the NITI Aayog document.