Ladakh Lieutenant Guv asks IITs to work on boosting entrepreneurship in the UT

Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur has asked three prominent Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) – Kanpur, Bombay and Delhi – to identify modalities for the development of entrepreneurship in the union territory.

Mathur made these remarks to a delegation of faculty members from IIT Kanpur, Bombay and Delhi in Ladakh, an official spokesman said.

The delegation led by Amitabha Bandopadhyay from IIT Kanpur briefed the Lt Governor about the series of workshops on enterprising Ladakh.

The workshops are organised by the Industries and Commerce Department, Ladakh for entrepreneurs and students of Ladakh University, colleges, ITIs and polytechnics in Leh and Kargil to assist in the development of entrepreneurship and incubation eco-system for entrepreneurs from Ladakh, the spokesman said.

Mathur thanked the IITs for their support and requested them to identify modalities that would work in Ladakh.

He emphasised on the need to focus on certain areas, including identifying potential products and economic spaces for good turnover, providing incentives and assistance to entrepreneurs in availing the benefits of various government schemes, the need for technological interventions that work in local conditions, improving infrastructure and logistics and the marketing of niche and high-value products from Ladakh.

The delegation shared its feedback and inputs from the workshops, viz the need for suitable technological interventions based on the needs of the people of the region, addressing logistics and supply channels and the need for proper testing and certification parameters, the spokesman said.

It also highlighted the need for providing training on customer and segment discovery for proper pricing of the products, intervention in the transportation of glass or liquid products, hand holding and mentorship of entrepreneurs, creating awareness about various government schemes and incentives, strengthening the incubation centre and proper packaging of products, he said.

Setting up a common centre for processing and packaging of products, common branding and value-addition of products from Ladakh, engaging a digital marketing agency for marketing of products from Ladakh and providing training and capacity-building workshops for local youth to understand the mechanism of entrepreneurship were some other points raised by the delegation, the spokesman said.