Entrepreneurship Development Cell
St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, is part of the Jesuit Institution that globally runs some 100 Universities, with their headquarters at Rome. Here in this part of the country the Jesuits run institutions including XIMB & XLRI two leading B-schools of the country.
Under the guidelines of the University Grants Commission, the nodal authority of the Govt of India in giving accreditation, this institution has been accorded the status of an Autonomous college. The college runs under-graduate, post graduate & vocational studies ( Media, Mass communications ).
St Xavier's has also a mandate from the Government in establishing the Educational Media Research Centre. The Institution is located in the central district of the city of Calcutta. The College has also received a mandate from the Government to set up an ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT CELL(EDC).
MOTTO OF EDC
- Environment
- Ecology
- Economics
- Equity
- ETHICS
THE REGION
Calcutta is the capital of the state of West Bengal and a gateway to Eastern India comprising States of Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh, multi-cultural multilingual Diasporas. These states are not only rich in flora and fauna, but rich in mineral resources too. The state of West Bengal has 15 Universities but no university barring one has an Incubator/Science Park.
The EDC closely networks with EKTA INCUBATION CENTRE, supported by the University of Technology, West Bengal. Some 104 schools of management and technology are affiliated to this university. The Incubation centre is located at the Knowledge Park of Calcutta and spread over 15,000 plus square feet of built up area.
The focus of the Incubator is in the area of Pharma-biotech, Bioinformatics, Exploitive Micro-biology, Agri-tech & Information technology - primarily web designing, assistive technology - with a mandate to enhance the use of open source in all computing systems. This university has one of the finest biotechnology labs in the east and an excellent group of researchers.
We at Ekta have been able to leverage our competency in having in our centre the Dabur Research Foundation, a Pharma company in India that is rated amongst the top 10. Our facilities are 24X7 with a cafeteria, seminar room, conference facility with full facility to host formal Lunches/Dinner, Broadband Internet Wi-Fi Facility and the usual back office support that goes with it.
We are also in negotiations with organisations in the UK and the US for extending to them soft-landing facilities. Most of the queries are in areas of Biotechnology. The bio diversity of the eastern states and the state of West Bengal make it an ideal ground to study various issues related to natural resource management and the environment. The mangroves of Bengal are one of Globally protected rain forests and home to the ubiquitous Bengal Tiger.
Calcutta has honour of having 4 Nobel Laureates in the state till date. The quality of education and research are of the highest standards.
Since academic institutions in this region do not have incubators, a roadmap to set up incubation facility has been evolved with a lot of thought. Mr. Arindam Dutta has been involved with incubation in premier teaching institutions for over 9 years. He is himself an entrepreneur for the past 34 years.
The Module for a successful business venture consists of proven technology and best practices. It is as difficult to implement as it may sound easy to gloss over these points. We have also gathered a team of the finest resource persons in these areas, and kept our focus to areas of our competencies.
Our focus has also narrowed down to such natural resources as Honey and cultivation of Jatropha for - Bio Diesel, Veg oil. We have already been able to use High percent of jatropha extract along with additives in Generator sets and pump sets. We have started assisting a large group of bee-keepers(Apis Mellifera) in quality assurances, packaging and structuring a Business module for exports to the EU. The Honey is collected from natural environment, and we are in the process of formulating specialised collection from Medicinal Plants.
The city of Calcutta hosts numerous fairs in areas of Industrial Products, IT, Farm & Agricultural Products, Natural Resources and forest Produce and Tourism.
MOST IMPORTANT SERVICES
- We have been able to leverage our competency in having in our centre the Dabur Research Foundation, a Pharma company in India that is rated amongst the top 10. Our facilities are 24X7 with a cafeteria, seminar room, conference facility with full facility to host formal Lunches/Dinner, Broadband Internet Wi-Fi Facility and the usual back office support that goes with it.
- Physical Incubation Facility has already been extended to three start-ups - two in areas of IT and one in Bioinformatics.
- A major initiative is towards Capacity Building using technology as an enabler. We are working with the Calcutta Tannery Association in new areas of de-hairing of raw hide using eco-friendly technology. Also, we are working with the Bee-keepers Cooperative.
LINKS TO MOST IMPORTANT WEBSITES IN OUR REGION
Chamber of commerce:
www.bncci.com
Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BNCCI)
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)
www.tiekol.org
TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Kolkata Chapter
www.calcutta.usconsulate.gov/irc.html
American Information Resource Centre (AIRC) -- Ms. Maitrayee Mukhoty, Supervisory Librarian
Economic development organisations:
www.wbiidc.org
West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure
http://wbbiotech.nic.in
Development Corporation (WBIDC) The West Bengal State Council of Biotechnology
Non- government organisations (NGO):
www.Indev.nic.in/ced
Centre of Environment and Development (CED)
www.drcsc.org
Development Research Communication & Services Centre (DRCSC)
www.sashaworld.com
Sarba Shanti Ayog (SASHA Enterprise Development Foundation)
www.rkmhq.org
Ramakrishna Mission Lokeshiksha Parishad (RKM-LP)