Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, 604 aspiring entrepreneurs or startups have been supported so far under National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI)- Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) program

New Delhi : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, 604 aspiring entrepreneurs or startups have been supported so far under National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI)- Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) program.

In a statement laid on the table of the Lok Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the grants have been disbursed in the form of fellowship to the selected aspiring entrepreneurs or startups across the country through a network of 29 Technology Business Incubator (TBIs) who act as a program implementation partner for NIDHI EIR program.

Entrepreneurs-in- Residence (EIR) is the program introduced under the umbrella of National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) by Department of Science & Technology (DST) in the financial year 2016-17. This program aims to inspire and provide support to S&T qualified persons who aspire to be an entrepreneur and has an innovative idea. The NIDHI EIR program is positioned as a pre-incubation program to generate new pipeline of entrepreneurs or startups.

The main objective of NIDHI EIR program is to encourage graduating students to take entrepreneurship instead of seeking jobs. The selected NIDHI-EIR support recipient (aspiring entrepreneurs/startups) is eligible for grant up to Rs.30,000/- per month for a period of 12 months. This fellowship is extendable up to 18 months in case of deserving candidates. Since the launch of NIDHI EIR program grant of Rs.19.03 crore has been disbursed to 604 number of aspiring entrepreneur or startups. This state wise list of NIDHI EIR recipients is given at Table 1.

Table 1