Kohima, July 21 (IANS) Nagaland University, the lone Central varsity in the state, has been chosen to host one of the four incubation centres in the northeastern region under a Central government initiative, officials said on Monday.

University officials said that the 50 highest-performing beneficiaries would receive a startup seed money grant of up to Rs 5 lakh.

The university was chosen under the project ‘Establish, Develop, and Manage Entrepreneurship Development Centres and Incubation Centres in the Educational Institutes of the North Eastern Region’.

According to the official, this project is being sponsored by the Shillong-based North Eastern Council (NEC), a regional planning body, and implemented by the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati.

The NEC is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the northeastern region, which consists of the eight states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura while the IIE is an organisation under the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Nagaland University’s Kohima campus has been designated as one of the four incubation centres in the northeastern region, the official said, adding that a total of 44 beneficiaries would be incubated in the first batch of incubatees.

The 44 beneficiaries include 16 from Arunachal Pradesh, six from Assam, four from Manipur, with the remaining 18 from Nagaland.

On-boarding of the incubates would be done in July 2025.

Nagaland University Vice-Chancellor Jagadish K. Patnaik said that the varsity is the only Central university in the state, and has been selected to host one of the four incubation centres in the northeastern region under a prestigious Central government initiative.

“This opportunity reaffirms the university’s commitment to academic excellence and nation-building through innovation, research, and inclusive development. We expect to collaborate with stakeholders across academia, industry, and government to make this endeavour a resounding success,” he added.

Elaborating on the activities that would be taken up under this initiative, Dhrubajyoti Bordoloi, Coordinator, Entrepreneurship Development Centre and Incubation Centre, of the university, said, “Industry experts and established entrepreneurs would provide mentorship to the incubates. Workshops, ideathons, bootcamps and hackathons are contemplated for the forthcoming six months.”

Bordoloi, who is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, Nagaland University, said: “The initiative is the first-of-its-kind in the northeastern region wherein potential entrepreneurs have been identified from the remotest corner of the country. Additionally, an effort has been made to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and intent among the youthful population of the state through the conduct of numerous awareness camps in various institutions and villages.”

The selection of the incubates was finalised in Financial Year 2024-25 through the 30 entrepreneurship development cells established under the project.

A total of 145 beneficiaries were selected by the experts appointed by the nodal agency across the northeastern region, with 44 beneficiaries assigned to the Nagaland University Incubation Centre.

–IANS

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