TREC-STEP, IIM-T to groom entrepreneurs

Partnering with the Indian Institute of Management-Tiruchi, TREC-STEP (Tiruchi Regional Engineering College-Science and Technology Entrepreneurs’ Park) has embarked on a prestigious project aimed at facilitating 32 new entrepreneurship ventures to create nearly 3,000 jobs and clock a turnover of Rs. 500 crore over the next five years.

The project will carried out under the NITI Ayog Atal Innovation Mission.

Budding entrepreneurs — chosen out of 150 applicants — were given orientation on finance, marketing and other key aspects of running enterprises by IIM-T faculty members at a ‘Workshop on new venture management’ held here on Tuesday. TREC-STEP reached out to over 40,000 persons with information about the project, according to its Executive Director R.M.P. Jawahar.

TREC-STEP, the oldest incubation centre in existence for 30 years, has been ranked first among six facilities chosen out of 232 applicants in the country to implement the NITI Ayog Atal Innovation Mission, Mr. Jawahar said at the inaugural of the workshop.

Utilising the Scale-up Support for Established Incubation Centres Project under the Mission, TREC-STEP will establish its Technology Business Incubation Centre in Chennai, partner with experienced Indian diaspora domain experts in the USA for knowledge-sharing and mentoring of budding technology ventures, and modernise common production facilities at its Tiruchi facility, he said.

Inaugurating the workshop, IIM-T Director Bhimaraya Metri said that in today’s information era, where fast-paced disruptive changes were common, it was important for enterprises to dream and aim big, expand networking and develop relationships to accelerate growth, optimising utility of technology.

The environment in Tiruchi, known historically for its cultural, geographic and educational significance, was ideal for its transformation into a hub for intellectual development and entrepreneurship, Mr. Metri said.

Presiding over the workshop, Chairman of TREC-STEP Board and former Executive Director of BHEL, Tiruchi, A.V. Krishnan said that in a departure from the past, it had now become imperative for entrepreneurs to identify problems and find solutions. The IIM tie-up had generated a process to bring the incubation of products and services to a logical end. Budding entrepreneurs ought to learn from failures, have a definite mission, be passionate in pursuing the goals, and receive guidance from experts and professional bodies in the field.

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