Gandhinagar, April 20, 2023: In a landmark moment, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) celebrated four decades of entrepreneurship education, training, research, and institution building on Thursday, April 20, at the institute’s campus. Shri Acharya Devvrat, Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat, was the chief guest. The pioneering institute was founded in 1983 with the support of the IDBI Bank, IFCI, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI) and Govt. of Gujarat.
The event was inaugurated in the presence of Shri Rakesh Sharma, President- EDII and MD & CEO, IDBI Bank Ltd; Dr Milind Kamble, EDII Governing Board Member, Chair, 40-year Celebration Committee & Founder Chairman, DICCI; Dr Sailendra Narain, EDII Governing Board Member and Former Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI, Dr Sunil Shukla, Director General-EDII, and dignitaries from the Government, corporates and the academia.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Acharya Devvrat, said, “Degrees do not mean skill and competencies. 60 percent of youth in India possess degrees but this does not make them relevant to cater to the market demands. There is a great dichotomy between the degrees that universities and colleges give and the requirement of skillsets in the market. But that does not mean that the youth are not creative; they can blossom if they are mentored, counselled, trained, handheld, and oriented well, they need to be aligned with innovations and technical progress so that they deliver tangible performance. Such a platform, which the New Education Policy also envisages, will make India progressive as it also has the advantage of a demographic dividend. I am glad we have institutions like EDII that are complementing efforts in this direction through training and motivation. My compliments to EDII.”
Commenting on the robust startup ecosystem in India, Shri Rakesh Sharma, said, “We are witnessing a growing trust in entrepreneurship; the willingness of students to break free from the job-seeking mindset, think innovatively and float sustainable startups. Year after year, we see an increase in the number of people enrolling for EDII’s PG and other programmes. Other institutions and universities have also started offering courses on entrepreneurship today, and that speaks volumes about EDII’s contribution towards making entrepreneurship a conscious career option.”
Emphasizing the significance of inclusive growth, Dr Milind Kamble said, “Entrepreneurship helps promote inclusive growth which is a need for India. Successful entrepreneurship does not always mean big industries or manufacturing units in towns and cities, it also means opportunities for the people living in the villages of India, for the marginalized, the differently abled, and the women. Only then a country can progress. Entrepreneurship gives an opportunity to include people in growth. EDII has demonstrated this through its interventions.”
In his address, Dr Sunil Shukla, said, “EDII was set up much against the apprehensions that entrepreneurship cannot be taught. 40 years later when we see the ‘Made in India’ tag, an increasingly respected brand, valued for quality, reliability, and competitiveness, it feels good. EDII has played a role in bringing Indian entrepreneurs this far. Given the prominence that this discipline has gained and the emphasis that the Government is placing on promoting entrepreneurship, the day is not far away when India will be cited as one of the foremost entrepreneurial and startup destinations. ”
As part of the celebration, the institute released a book documenting its 40-year journey and a film highlighting EDII’s various domains of work and its achievements. The dignitaries also inaugurated an exhibition of EDII-trained artisans, incubatees, and the differently-abled.
Milestones achieved by EDII
- Presently EDII is working with various ministries/departments of the Indian government such as; Rural Development, External Affairs, Food Processing, Textiles, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Science and Technology, Defence, Agricultural & Farmers Welfare, Home Affairs, Commerce & Industry and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.
- Under EDII’s CrAdLE, 103 startups have been incubated and investments of over INR 30 crore have been raised.
- The institute has impacted over 19,000 CBSE schools. It offers programmes on entrepreneurship orientation to Senior Administrative Officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration.
- The premier institute has set up Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs) in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Rwanda under the strategy of Institution Building to promote entrepreneurship.
- Institute has tied up with Human Resource Development Fund under Ministry of HRD, Malaysia to assist Malaysian Government in ensuring 35% skilled Malaysian workforce by 2020.
- It has implemented projects with support from the World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, UNIDO, ILO, FNSt, British Council, Ford Foundation, European Union, ASEAN Secretariat, SDC etc.
- EDII trains close to 250 international delegates annually, from 178 developing countries, under association with the Ministry of External Affairs. Till now, 4,396 professionals have been trained.
Milestones achieved by EDII
- EDII pioneered the AICTE-approved two year full-time Post Graduate Programme in Management –Entrepreneurship and Post Graduate Programme in Management – Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Venture Development.
- The world’s largest study in Entrepreneurship, ‘Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’ for its India chapter, is being led by the Institute, since 2012.
- Government of Gujarat has designated EDII as the Nodal Institute for promoting startups and strengthening entrepreneurship in the state.
- EDII is the knowledge partner to the Commissionerate of Cottage Industries, Government of Gujarat since the last 3 years and it has provided advanced skill training to 12,316 women artisans in the handicraft segment under the Hasta Kala Setu Yojana.
- EDII is also implementing the Hand-Made in India Project with Ernst & Young and HSBC. Under this, the institute has trained 2,855 women weavers in the states of Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
- It has trained 919 SC/ST entrepreneurs from 11 states and help setup 543 enterprises. EDII-trained SC youths from 19 districts of Gujarat set up 356 enterprises and generated 1,109 employment opportunities (investment of INR 10.73 crore made).
- EDII was appointed as the National Resource Organization by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2016 for its ‘Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme’ (SVEP). The 4-year programme has thus far trained 83,467 people, leading to setting up of 81,641 enterprises, 80% of which are led by women.
- On behalf of the Ministry of Food Processing, EDII has conducted 443 EDPs in Food Processing Sector, trained 11,100 entrepreneurs across 23 states out of which 5,463 have established their enterprises, generating 19,221 direct employment opportunities and mobilizing investment of INR 15,060.99 lakh.
- In Social Entrepreneurship & CSR, EDII’s skill development interventions have led to training of 68,950 beneficiaries, in 23 states, 138 districts and 741 villages of the country. EDII is engaged with corporates like Accenture, Hewlett Packard, Facebook, ITC, TATA Communications Ltd, Walmart, Yes Bank, Amazon, Vedanta, Tata Steel and Bayer Foundation.
