Indian Institute of Technology Indian School of Mines

Choosing the right route

• If you are a UG, PG or PhD student at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad with an idea, a concept or an early prototype, start with the pre-incubation call.
• If you are not a student of the institute, this call is not open to you. The incubation pages do not say who else may apply.

How applications work

• The call is rolling, so it can be applied to whenever it is open.
• You can apply alone or as a group of up to three students for one idea or startup.
• The application asks for your admission number, degree programme, department, year of study, the stage of your idea (concept, prototype, proof of concept or ready for production), and the expected outcomes.

How selection works

• Selection depends on the committee's recommendation and on the progress of the startup.
• Students need at least one year left before graduation. Final-year students may be considered based on the readiness of the product.
• The call does not list review criteria beyond these points.

The Office of the Dean (Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship) at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad supports innovation and startups across the institute's campus in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. Its main open call is a pre-incubation programme for the institute's own students, run through the Student Start-up Club. The office also lists incubation infrastructure and startup support, but the pages reviewed do not say who may apply to those.

How the programmes work

The Student Start-up Club runs a pre-incubation programme for students who want to turn an idea into a product, a process or a company. It covers technical mentorship, free access to lab resources for prototyping, support for patent and idea filing through the institute, and guidance through NVCTI to register a company. Selection is subject to the committee's recommendation and the progress of the startup, so this is a staged route rather than a fixed grant.

Who can apply

The pre-incubation call is open to UG, PG and PhD students of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. A team can have up to three students for each idea or startup. Students need at least one year left before graduation. Final-year students may still be considered, depending on how far the product has developed. Founders who are not students of the institute are not eligible for this call.

Facilities

The institute's student zone lists labs for mechanical and rapid prototyping, electronics and IoT, pouch battery cell fabrication, and animation and game design. Pre-incubation teams get access to lab resources for prototyping.

Startup support

The incubation page lists the support it offers startups: office space, labs and prototyping, mentorship from entrepreneurs and experts, seed funding, grants and investor access, capacity-building and business development, and collaboration with faculty, industry and government. These are stated as general support for the ecosystem, not as terms for each centre.

Centres and partners

The institute names NVCTI, CIIE, TexMin, the CIL Innovation and Incubation Centres and the Atal Community Innovation Center (ACIC) as its innovation and incubation infrastructure. TexMin and the CIL centres are described as linking academic research with industry. ACIC is described as serving local entrepreneurs and grassroots innovators.

Student clubs and events

The institute's student zone lists tech clubs for smart manufacturing, electric mobility, aeronautics and space technology, data and software, robotics, finance technology, electronics and IoT, animation and game design, and product management. The Startup Club and an E-Cell sit alongside them, and a Bureau of Indian Standards student chapter covers standards awareness. The student zone also lists a Student Innovation Scheme, Student Innovation Awards, and major events such as Concetto, the Inter IIT Tech Meet, Hackfest, the Jharkhand School Innovation Challenge and Smart India Hackathon.

The student zone further lists a Minor in Product Development Internship, an Inhouse Program Development route and a TEXMIN EIR. The pages reviewed do not say who may apply to these, so check with the office before assuming access.

Scale

The incubation page lists 19 ongoing startups, with incorporation years from 2017 to 2025, across sectors such as agri-tech, manufacturing, EV mobility, IoT and healthtech. The page does not give a total number of startups supported over time.

Who runs it

The Dean (IIE) is Prof. Alok Kumar Das. Prof. Arun Dayal Udai is listed as Head of CIIE and PIC (IIE).

Support at every stage

The office says its team supports innovators at every stage of the journey, from a first idea to a refined concept. It describes the support as access to incubation facilities, expert mentorship and industry networks. Faculty are also invited to use the office to translate research into applications and work with industry, according to the office's own pages.

Where it is

The Office of the Dean (IIE) is part of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, at the institute's campus in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, PIN 826004.