How can India unleash its innovation and entrepreneurship potential?

Entrepreneurship is doing things in new ways, ahead of social norms and

customs, and establishing the rules and laws. In both countries, these processes
are unfolding not just in the mainstream business sector but in society writ large
and even in politics and civil society,
The extent and type of government involvement and the nature of openness are 2
dimensions in which the countries are different. These dimensions pervade all
aspects of societal existence, whether that means raising capital to start a new
business, the nature of markets, copyrights, the media, movies, and religion, as
well as the ways in which both countries themselves project their power, the way
they deal with each other, and the way the village economy works.

India has earned a reputation of doing things differently and coming up with
new things that influenced the world. The concept of ‘zero’ developed in India,
without which it would be difficult to measure the progress of most countries
that is measured in terms of the number of zeroes in their GDP figures. Indians
are great at coming up with business ideas that work and mint money with which
to start a new business. Take the example of the Marwari community in the US
who have very successfully put American motel owners out of business with their
efficiently run cheap accommodation facilities. They do it abroad just as they do
it here in India.

India is the place to look to find umpteen examples of entrepreneurs who have
made it big. With the likes of, Karsanbhai Patel and of course Dhirubhai Ambani
all of whom changed the way we look at the business scene of India today. Mr
Ambani started his entrepreneurial career by doin really mundane jobs like
selling “bhajias” to pilgrims in Mount Gimar, and working as an attendant in a
gas station and as a clerk in an oil company. Yet he built a company that is
respected the world over and is the only Indian company to be featured on the
Fortune 500 list.

But it’s not only men dominating the entrepreneurial scene in India .Women
entrepreneurs Like Kiran Mazumdar Shaw who went from being a trainee
brewer to being the Chariperson and Managing Director of her own company,
Biocon Ltd. But she is by no means the only lady who made it in the business
world in India. A group of seven determined goddesses got together on the
terrace of a Girgaum building and decided to give their lives new wings to soar
into skies yet uncharted for women entrepreneurs. What started on a building
top in 1959 is now a flourishing business that has an annual turnover of Rs. 470
crores of which exports contribute about Rs. 24 crores. That is the awesome
power of India entrepreneurship. That’s what we really need today.

In a world rocked by tremors in the global economy, where incubation centers

and entrepreneurship learning centers are few and far between, the pitch gets
queered further for the fair sex. India is a country where women have long
struggled to find their rightful place in society. South India has more startups
with women bosses than North India because for years, the North has not been
exposed to education, and the socio-economic structures up north are backward,
to say the least. While there a quite a few incubators dotting the country, some
do not seem receptive at all to women recruits. Society is not quite ready to
accept women in a dominant role especially in the business sphere. This can only
be remedied by a serious change in the attitudes that people have towards the
fairer sex.
Another dilemma plaguing the entrepreneurial spirit in India is the paucity of
funds. Funds seem to remarkably dry up, just when new ventures need them
most.
This problem is magnified for women entrepreneurs who are often denied loans
from banks and other financial institutions if the don’t have the backing of a
male who is seen as a more capable individual.

To tackle the problem of availability of funds at the right time, various banks
like SBI and SIDBI have announced special schemes similar to loans, for those
who are looking to start up potentially profitable businesses. The loans will have
an average tenure of 7-8 years depending upon the size of the projects and their
viability. Another feasible way to ensure sufficient funds is the setting up of stock
exchanges for small companies to enable them to broaden their shareholder base
and create a market for their shares thus raising more capital. This initiative has
been proposed by the National Knowledge Commission.

Infrastructure is another area where India is sadly lacking 18 years after

libralisation of the economy and all the reforms that took place to help industries
develop in this land of a thousand mountains and valleys and abundant
resources. Entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas and potential to start up an
organization that could very well be the next big thing in Indian industry, need
to lie low and work at nondescript jobs just because the right sort of
infrastructure is unavailable. This is all set to thanks to the Tiruchirapalli
Regional Engineering College-Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park
which is a national initiative to promote knowledge based ventures of budding
scientists and technologists, facilitate the flow of facilities and expertise to
emerging entrepreneurs and society at large. TREC – STEP which was
established in 1986 in the sprawling environs of Tiruchirappalli is the first STEP
in the country.
The TREC - STEP focuses on

Promotion of knowledge based Industries

Development and Transfer of Technologies
Training in Technology and Business Skills
New Developmental Project Initiatives

What is needed here is a liason between Academia and Industry – to create an

Innovation system. The STEP is a model interface institution, which delivers
innovation, science and technology and entrepreneurship through training,
development and consultancy initiatives.

Cisco® announced that it is collaborating with Small Industries Development

Bank of India (SIDBI) and Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College-
Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park (TREC-STEP) to promote
information and communications technology ICT entrepreneurship and
innovation in the country. The ICT entrepreneurship development programme
will provide financing, loan subsidies, mentorship and training to qualified
entrepreneurs and small businesses in India.

SIDBI plans to finance small ICT businesses in India which will be run by Cisco
Networking Academy® students. SIDBI will provide loans to entrepreneurs,
Cisco will subsidize the interest repayment and guarantee fees on the loans and
TREC-STEP will provide customized training and mentoring to participants in
the pilot. Similar assistance is needed in other sectors as well.

Entrepreneurship provides a solution to the lack of jobs in the present

recessionary environment. With job opportunities only available to
approximately one-third of India’s youth, entrepreneurship development is a
critical part of the country’s future.

Institutions that provide special courses to budding entrepreneurs that help hone
their skills in varied fields like personnel management, accounts, pricing
decisions, project planning etc are the need of the hour. Institutions like St
Xaviers College in Kolkatta, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
and Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship in Bangalore have
started full- fledged courses to encourage budding entrepreneurs to hone their
skills so they will be successful when they start off their ventures. Such courses
are a major boost to the Indian entrepreneurial spirit.

Entrepreneurship in India is an excellent way out of the economic turmoil our

country is facing, and can be a beacon of hope to the nation with proper help
from the higher authorities.