Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh Launches Chandigarh University's 'Campus Tank', India's Largest University Startup Launchpad
“Today's Youth is the Architect of Viksit Bharat by 2047,” says Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh at National Launch of Chandigarh University’s ‘Campus Tank’, India’s Biggest University led Start up Launchpad in New Delhi New Delhi, Delhi, India (NewsVoir) “Today's Youth is the architect of Vilshit Bharat. If we really want to maximize our potential, we have to make use of our immense human resources. We have the right milieu and much has changed ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the leadership of the country. It’s for everyone to make use of the opportunity,” said Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh at the national launch of ‘Campus Tank’, India’s pioneering university-led startup launchpad designed to empower student innovators, hosted by Chandigarh University at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi in collaboration with Apna, India’s largest job portal and Venture Catalysts, the nation’s foremost venture capital fund driving startup growth.The national launch of Campus Tank, which has a dedicated funding pool of US$ 6 million to nurture next-generation innovators below 30 years of age, has set the stage for young innovators to pitch their ideas and get funding to launch their startups along with expert venture guidance, strategic ecosystem alliances and immersive startup incubation. The Union Minister said North India needs to catch-up pace with South India in the field of Startups and Entrepreneurship. “North India is still obsessed by government jobs, which prisons you in a mall shell, because of the colonial rule. In this part of the country, we need to have a greater push than before to make the best of the opportunity. It’s been an amazing journey in the past one decade. We have to engage private sector as much as we can to achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat. For this Campus Tank with a funding pool of $6 Million funding for innovators below 30 years of age which comprises 70% India’s population is great initiative. It will specially give a push to entrepreneurship in North India which is lagging behind a bit when it comes to startup movement,” he said. Dr Jitendra Singh further said, “There is no lack of funding. In science and technology, there is 900% hike in budget. We have given all the freedom for industry. We have floated National Research Foundation and dedicated schemes for universities which have been started to democratise government funding. So results are happening in miraculous manner. India’s ranks 39th position among 133 global economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024. We have over 1.8 lakh startups out which about 60 % are women led. Our key projects like Aditya Mission are being led by women. In patent filing, we are now 6th in the world and over 66% of the 64,000 patents filed in the past six years have been filed by people residing in India. Today we have vast resources in every sector.” The Union Minister said Startups in India need to look beyond fields like AI and ML. “In India, we actually need startups in under-explored sectors like agriculture, space and Himalayas. We launched Aroma Mission to boost India's aroma industry by enhancing the cultivation of aromatic crops and production of essential oils. Today we have over 3000 startups in this sector who have making profits in millions of rupees. That’s where universities will play a big role as almost 50 % startups in India come from B Towns because aspiration level in our towns in much higher than metros where there is no dearth of opportunities,” he said. Besides Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, the dignitaries who graced the ceremony for national launch of Campus Tank, which has a dedicated funding pool of US$ 6 million to nurture next-generation innovators below 30 years of age, included Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor of Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Prof (Dr) TG Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE, Surya Kant, CEO, Atal Incubation Center–BIMTECH, Prof Himani Sood, Pro Chancellor, Chandigarh University, Siddharth Anand, Associate Director, Enterprise Marketing, Apna and Dr Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder, Venture Catalysts. The launch of Campus Tank was also attended by dignitaries from the industry and Startup Founders including Padmaja Ruparel, Senior Managing Partner and Co-Founder at IAN Group, Prachi Kaushik, Founder and Director, Vyomini, L Venkata Subramaniam, IBM Quantum India Leader, Dr Vishal Gandhi, Founder and CEO, BIORx Venture Advisors, Subhash Chand Aggarwal, Chairman & MD, SMC Global Securities, Amit Singhal, General Partner, Fluid Ventures, Gaurav Kumar, Associate Partner, KPMG, Vineet Sagar, Managing Partner, Venture Garage and Srishti Arora, Corporate Innovation Lead, India Accelerator. In his address, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor of Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “Any nation’s progress depends on its vision and we are fortunate to have leadership of PM M
