At IIM-Sambalpur, Dharmendra Pradhan opens the I-Hub Foundation

The I-Hub Foundation, an incubator located at IIM-Sambalpur, was officially opened on Friday by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Innovating projects in a variety of fields, such as textiles, art and culture, agriculture, healthcare, financial and digital inclusion, tribal entrepreneurship, and sustainability, will be fostered and supported in large part by the foundation.

In addition, Pradhan established the Sambalpur chapter of “100 Cube” start-ups, which aims to house 100 start-ups by the time Odisha celebrates its centenary in 2036, each valued at around Rs 100 crore. According to Pradhan, “start-ups… are the creators of wealth, jobs, and economic opportunities for the bottom of society.”

The main industries for start-ups, according to Pradhan, are healthcare, textiles, agriculture, mining, and minerals. Given the faculty’s skills, he stated that educational institutions like IIM Sambalpur are ideal locations for mentoring. Resources are plentiful in the nation right now. But connecting resources with fresh concepts is the difficult part, and hubs for incubation like I-Hub will help achieve that, he said.

Our innovative idea is to support regional intellectual property, art, and culture in areas abundant in mining and mineral resources. Our goal is to improve these industries. In addition, we want to make Odisha a center for entrepreneurs and start-ups,” Mahadeo Jaiswal, the director of IIM Sambalpur, said.