Shantanu Banerjee, a 42 year-old software developer of Dhanbad, is helping girl student entrepreneurs to execute their business ideas into projects at the first incubation center in SSLNT the Women’s College of coal town.

Banerjee’s Centre of Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development has been providing assistance to three different startups by women, working on different innovative ideas.

Talking to The Telegraph Online, Banerjee, the chief mentor of the institute said that the centre was inaugurated by organising a mega event of national level for startups at IIT-ISM on February 26 last year. Initially, they wanted to establish the centre at BIT-Sindri but that plan was marred by the pandemic.

“We again initiated the effort to establish the center at SSLNT Women’s College about three months ago, when the College approached us and initially selected three projects, including two involving SSLNT college students. The other one involves one postgraduate student of the Department of Mass Communication of Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University (BBMKU) and another student from this college,” said Banerjee.

Shantanu Banerjee with his students at the Centre of Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development Picture by Gautam Dey

Explaining the deets about the projects, he said, “One of the projects titled ‘Eco Loop’ launched by three M Com students of SSLNT Poonam Kumari, Shikha Singh and Nandini Singh involves working on environment conservation through waste management practices. Two undergraduate students Diksha Roy and Aditi are working on Kokaringa, a programme generating products made through Moringa plants, which has huge medicinal properties including anti cancerous properties.”

Banerjee said that the third group is working on a project named ‘Kya Khoob’ which makes different utensils and decorative items through waste papers. Postgraduate students Pratigya Lala and Shikha Singh are working on this cause.

“I have realised that the girls have more novel and innovative ideas compared to boys as they think of any project with greater concentration compared to boys,” he said.

SSLNT College principal Sharmila Rani said that they have started off with the centre with limited facilities but will gradually increase them.