Six months, two semesters, and hundreds of class submissions post Entrepreneurship Week India 2010, students of the NEN Entrepreneurship Cell at National Institute of Engineering, Mysore are still stealing time from their day-to-day distractions to keep the promise they made during E Week in February: promoting innovative use of technology in rural India.
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| NIE E Cell students promote eco-friendly chulha in a village home near Mysore |
In line with the E Week theme of ‘India: Opportunities Within’, NIE E Cell had joined hands with NIE’s Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST) to promote eco-chulhas and biogas plants on the outskirts of Mysore. Its members are now in talks with potential donors for funding installation of 50 chulhas by the year end. Forty five E Cell members have been coached by CREST to run training workshops for rural farmers, helping them apply these technologies in their own homes. In May, the members organized a green cycle rally to increase awareness and interest in CREST technologies and rural technologies. Their work helped their institute gain funding from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for five technology projects.
Next on the E Cell’s agenda is to build a model village using green technologies, reveals Vinayaka RCN, NEN Faculty Leader at NIE. “We are on an exciting mission,” says Kunal Kaul, a student E Leader at the E Cell. “It’s a great way to experience entrepreneurship. We are passionate about this technology and love selling it to people.”
Similar stories of entrepreneurial initiatives are emerging across India following the success of E Week India, a celebration of entrepreneurship that saw the participation of over 6,00,000 people across 30 cities. Designed to build public awareness and support for entrepreneurship, E Week India focused public attention on today’s biggest opportunities and encouraged participants to reflect on their role as leaders and innovators.
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| Rural vermicomposting units being set up by Saveetha Engineering College E Cell |
At Chennai’s Saveetha Engineering College, students reached out to villagers of Nayapakkam, located on the outskirts of Chennai, to promote vermi-composting during E Week. Six months later, the villagers are making their own compost in their backyard, yielding over 50 kgs of rich manure. “The President of the village Panchayat is now planning to expand, by establishing a big vermicomposting unit in the village,” shares Reshma Rafi, an E Leader of Saveetha Engineering College.
In Mumbai, Snehal M who graduated from ITM Business School this year, has launched a mineral water manufacturing and bottling plant with his father to provide clean drinking water to the masses. “It was a business idea my father was toying with for over 20 years. The exposure I received through workshops, entrepreneurship talks and discussions during E Week, on huge business opportunities lying untapped in sectors like water and energy, convinced me that my father’s startup idea is the right way ahead,” he says. He credits his E Cell for building his skills and giving him the confidence to reject a job and pursue entrepreneurship.
Mumbai’s Thakur Institute of Management Studies and Research has witnessed a spurt in student startups after E Week. Four students — Saurabh Mhatre, Carolin Christian, Sudhakar Yadav and Ashish Kothari — have opened ‘Egglacious’, an egg specialty restaurant on campus. “Eggs are nutritious and high on protein — and students were greedy over omelettes. We were excited to experiment with entrepreneurship after E Week, and selling egg stuff seemed like a good idea to start,” reveals Saurabh. Egglacious has become a busy outlet in the last three months with `55,000 in monthly turnover and 300 eggs used up every day.
| About E Week India |
| Run by National Entrepreneurship Network and supported by the Wadhwani Foundation, Entrepreneurship Week India is an annual celebration and advocacy campaign to improve ecosystem and engage people in entrepreneurship. In February this year, over 6,00,000 people across 30 cities engaged in a celebration of entrepreneurship for Entrepreneurship Week India 2010. Over 4,000 entrepreneurial activities were led by 70,000 students of E Cells (Entrepreneurship Cells) from 512 member institutes of the National Entrepreneurship Network as part of E Week India — making it the biggest entrepreneurship activity in Asia. |
Another TIMSR student Sneh Bhayani has started a company ‘Geebacks Enterprises’ that sells school bags and travel bags. “Attracting corporate sponsorships for our E Week events was a great learning experience, where I learnt valuable lessons on how to sell ‘value’ to our sponsors. I apply these lessons when I sell my bags to customers — especially when it comes to designing and packaging my product so that it meets their needs and expectations,” Sneh says.
Students of Maharastra Institute of Technology at Pune were energized to start multiple campus companies, engaging over 100 students. Launched during admission season, the campus company selling hostel kits, comprising mattresses, pillows and toiletries made a turnover of `1,00,000 in two months.
“I can see a phenomenal change in the way my MBA students look at their careers. Their entire attitude has changed. They are beginning to see India as an emerging market, full of business opportunities for them to tap into. They are beginning small, but they are very motivated, and I am sure some of them could one day solve India’s biggest problems,” feels Mrinalini Kohajkar, Director, TIMSR.
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