NewGen IEDC

Choose the right door

• A college or university that wants a campus centre: NewGen IEDC. A student or a founder cannot apply for it; the institution does.
• A student team already inside an IEDC or NewGen IEDC: Student Start-up NIDHI, and only with your coordinator's nomination.
• Anyone else: neither route is open to you. Both run through a host institution, so the first step is whether your campus already has a centre.

How applications work

• NewGen IEDC proposals went in online from the institution, with a certificate from the Head of Institution and acceptance of the scheme's terms and conditions.
• Student Start-up NIDHI applications went in online, with a Certificate of Nomination signed by the IEDC or NewGen IEDC coordinator uploaded at the final stage. An application without that certificate is not eligible.
• The site carries no open call for either programme. The dated announcements there are from 2018-19 and 2019-20.

How selection works

• For NewGen IEDC, a sub-committee evaluates the proposals. Shortlisted institutions are invited to present to a National Expert Advisory Committee constituted by DST, which recommends the institutions to be supported.
• For Student Start-up NIDHI, the route is a nomination from your centre followed by a national competition; the host centre of a winning team is also recognised.

What reviewers look for

• An established institution. Courses in engineering, technology or science at degree level or above, running for at least five years.
• Trained faculty. At least two faculty members trained through the DST-sponsored Faculty Development Programme.
• Space and labs. About 5,000 square feet of dedicated space, with workshops, laboratories and a library.
• A clear institutional home. A private institution must be promoted by a registered trust or society and be recognised or affiliated to AICTE or a university.
• Clean intellectual property, for Student Start-up NIDHI. The startup must own it in full, with the host institution having transferred or given up its rights, and must be registered as a company or LLP before funds are disbursed. A student may be part of only one team.

NewGen IEDC, the New Generation Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre, is a programme launched by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and implemented by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII). It puts an innovation and entrepreneurship centre inside a university or an engineering, technology or science college, where students take up projects that could turn into products or companies. The programme is meant to build the habit of innovation among science and technology students and to support startup creation through guidance, mentorship and support.

How programmes work

EDII selects host institutions and each selected institution sets up a NewGen IEDC on its campus. The centre works to a five-year plan: it funds student project teams, pairs them with mentors, and runs activities such as innovation camps, business plan competitions and structured mentoring with industry and alumni involved. The scheme's design sets a rising cap on the number of student projects a centre takes on each year, totalling up to 85 projects across the five years. Project funding is meant to cover mentor guidance, a stipend for the student group, and the cost of raw materials, prototype development and outside vendors or consultants.

The same website also carries Student Start-up NIDHI, an ignition grant for student startups. It is a national competition run by EDII for DST-NSTEDB. Teams already supported and nominated by an IEDC or a NewGen IEDC are shortlisted, and selected teams receive one-time ignition funding released in two parts, the second against milestones. Its own pages state the annual intake differently: one describes support for about 20 student startups a year across the centres, while another describes selecting two or three teams from each centre each year. The host centre of a winning team is also given a certificate and a trophy.

Neither page shows an open call. The dated announcements on the site are from 2018-19 and 2019-20, and the Student Start-up NIDHI page carries a notice that its application window is closed.

Who can apply

A founder cannot apply to either programme on their own. NewGen IEDC is applied for by the institution. The institution should be a university or deemed university, or an institute or college offering engineering, technology or science courses at degree level or above, and it should have run those courses for at least five years. At least two faculty members should have been trained through the DST-sponsored Faculty Development Programme. The campus should have about 5,000 square feet of dedicated space along with workshops, laboratories and a library. A private institution must be promoted by a registered trust or society and be recognised or affiliated to AICTE or a university.

Student Start-up NIDHI is for current students and alumni whose project an IEDC or a NewGen IEDC already supports and nominates. The startup must own the intellectual property in full, with the host institution having transferred or given up its rights on it. It must be registered as a company or a limited liability partnership by the time the funds are disbursed. A student may be part of only one team.

Facilities

A NewGen IEDC runs out of its host institution. The host provides the dedicated space, workshops, laboratories and library the scheme asks for, and the centre's own work sits inside that campus infrastructure. These are teaching-campus facilities for the institution's own student teams, not workspace open to outside founders.

Scale

The selection lists published on the site name 14 institutions for 2017-18 and 12 for 2018-19, established in various parts of the country. Those two rounds are the only selection lists the site carries. It gives no later round and no running total of centres or of student projects completed.

Who runs it

NewGen IEDC is a programme of NSTEDB, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, implemented by EDII. Selection of host institutions runs through a sub-committee that evaluates the proposals, and shortlisted institutions are invited to present to a National Expert Advisory Committee constituted by DST, which recommends the institutions to be supported.

Locations

The programme website gives its office as the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, P.O. Bhat 382 428, Dist. Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The same pages describe the implementer as EDII, Ahmedabad. The centres themselves sit at host institutions in various parts of the country.