130 startups & Rs 1,200 crore revenue: Dream beginning for students at IIT-Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The endeavors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH), to foster a new generation of entrepreneurs have gradually yielded positive outcomes. Thus far, its assistance has enabled 130 startups to generate remarkable revenues, amounting to approximately Rs 1,200 crore. 

Over the past eight years, the institute itself has invested Rs 8 crore to support these startups, with 50 of them operating from the IITH campus in Kandi, Sangareddy district. “We have established a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem within the institute,” remarked IITH Director BS Murty in an interview with TOI. 

Initially offering entrepreneurship as a minor, the institute now provides the option for BTech students to pursue a double major in entrepreneurship, MTech in Techno Entrepreneurship (a prototype-driven course), a product-based PhD, and even houses a department of entrepreneurship and management. 

The institute has also initiated several programs, including ‘Nidhi Prayas,’ which grants up to Rs 10 lakh for hardware-based deep tech ideas with a working prototype, and Bold & Unique Ideas Leading to Development (BUILD). BUILD supports undergraduate students and recent graduates in shaping their innovative ideas and transforming them into viable startups, among other initiatives. “One significant step we have taken is eliminating the requirement of obtaining a 9 CGPA in the first year to transfer into the course of their choice. 

Now, this option is available to all B.Tech students. With the removal of that pressure, students have started contemplating how they can improve, and even first-year students are displaying an interest in entrepreneurship. Some of our students have progressed to the point where they can afford to pay salaries even before graduating,” added Murty.