The 2018 edition of the India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP 2.0), established by the Government of India’s (GoI) Department of Science and Technology (DST), along with Lockheed Martin Corporation and Tata Trusts was launched on Wednesday. The partners intend to invest $2 million annually in social and industrial innovations through the IIGP 2.0 for the entrepreneurs to develop technology-based solutions for the welfare of the society. “The IIGP began 11 years ago with a unique partnership of academia, industry and government. More than 400 benefittors benefitted through this programme,” said Harkesh Mittal, programme head of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology commercialisation at DST, GoI. The first edition of the programme that began in 2007 ran for a decade. Other partners of the programme includes Massachusetts institute of technology, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Lockheed Martin started the programme in 2007 and DST joined it in 2009. IIGP 2.0 would run for three years between 2017 and 2019, which could be expanded later. “Lockheed Martin has been a proud sponser and supporter of IIGP since 2007. We have 1,500 applications till now.
As this has now become innovators and entrepreneurs programme, the number of applications should go up to 5,000. The IIGP continues to prove itself as a hallmark model of government and industry working hand-in-hand to unleash the power and potentioal of Indian innovators,” said Phil Shaw, chief executive, Lockheed Martin India.
This programme offers an opportunity for innovators across the country with breakthrough ideas and concepts. It will either have social or industrial impact and the innovators are able to participate in the programme and to market in areas such as agriculture, health care, water, energy, life sciences, aeronautics and in many others. In 2017, IIGP 2.0 awarded nine Univercity Challenge teams and 10 individuals under Open Innovation Challenge a total support of $0.5 million for innovations in the areas of medicine, health care, water, agriculture, and aeronautics among others. So, IIGP 2.0 has met with early success as five of the 2017 winners have begun to market their products in India and overseas. Two others have conducted field trials, while three have successfully created a proof of concept and product validation. Manoj Kumar, head of entrepreneurship and innovations, Tata Trusts, added, “At Tata Trusts, we are always looking for innovators and entrepreneurs who are on a mission to improve quality of life, especially for the underpriviledged and deprived. The IIGP 2.0 has been revolutionary in its discovery of young and high motivated innovators who want to create large-scale social impact with their high quality solutions that are also affordable and accesible.”
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