Nagaland University has been selected as one of four premier Incubation Centres in the Northeast under a Central Government initiative aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and innovation among youth in the region. The initiative, titled “Establish, Develop, and Manage Entrepreneurship Development Centres and Incubation Centres in the Educational Institutes of the North Eastern Region”, is being sponsored by the North Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong, and implemented by the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati.

The Kohima campus of Nagaland University would host the incubation centre, which will onboard 44 beneficiaries in the first batch, drawn from across four states — 16 from Arunachal Pradesh, 6 from Assam, 4 from Manipur, and 18 from Nagaland. These incubatees will receive focused mentoring, training, and support, and the top 50 beneficiaries from across the Northeast will be eligible for seed funding of up to Rs 5 lakh each.

Welcoming the role of the University in promoting entrepreneurship in the Northeast, Prof. Jagadish K Patnaik, Vice-Chancellor, Nagaland University, said that this opportunity reaffirms the University’s commitment to academic excellence and nation-building through innovation, research and inclusive development.

He looked forward to collaborate with stakeholders across academia, industry and Government to make this endeavour a resounding success.

Elaborating on the activities that would be taken up under this initiative, Dr. Dhrubajyoti Bordoloi, Coordinator, Entrepreneurship Development Centre and Incubation Centre, Nagaland University, said, “Industry experts and established entrepreneurs will provide mentorship to the incubates. Workshops, Ideathons, Bootcamps and Hackathons are contemplated for the forthcoming six months.”

Speaking about the potential impact envisaged, D. Dhrubajyoti Bordoloi, who is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, Nagaland University, said that the initiative is first-of-its-kind in the Northeastern region wherein potential entrepreneurs have been identified from the remotest corner of the country.

He said 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.

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The key role of Nagaland University as an Incubation Centre under this initiative includes

Nomination and record-keeping of trainee profile student/youth trainee from within and outside institute for participating in the Incubation Program to become successful incubate in the Incubation centres.

• Mobilization of resources to conduct soft intervention at incubation centre (viz logistic support, resource person, convergence to other government schemes)
• Contribution to knowledge repository of the catchment area by means of research work, survey, database maintenance on entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Contribute to entrepreneurial education by introducing entrepreneurship as a subject in the academic curriculum.

The selection of the incubates was finalised in FY 2024-25 through the 30 EDCs established under the project. The selection method adhered to a stringent process of identifying prospective entrepreneurs and startups, followed by comprehensive training delivered through Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes and Entrepreneurship Development Programmes, the preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), the presentation of business plans via the DPRs, and the assessment of the DPRs by industry and ministry experts.

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.