XLRI's Entrepreneurship Development Institute becomes a reality

Ranchi, Sept. 28 (The Telegraph): The state government and Jamshedpur-based XLRI today inked an MoU to establish the state’s maiden entrepreneurship development institute.

The institute would come up on about five acres beside the XLRI campus in Jam- shedpur.

The state government has provided the land to the B-school for setting up the institution.

The Centre and the state government have agreed to pay Rs 1 crore each to establish the centre.

XLRI, too, has agreed to invest on the centre. The total project cost would amount to Rs 3.91 crore.

The recurring cost for running the institute would be about Rs 62 lakh a year.

The secretary of the industries department, S.K. Satpathy, and the director of the premier B-school, Father N. Casimir Raj signed the agreement in presence of deputy chief minister and in-charge of industries department, Sudhir Mahto, here today.

The industries depart-ment director and special secretary Sunil Kumar and Dhirendra Kumar were also present.

The institute “in making” would offer a one-year diploma course on entrepreneur development.

Its capacity would be 60 seats.

Fifty per cent of the seats would be reserved for the students of the state. The cen- tre would also conduct short-term management development programmes for young entrepreneurs.

The classes for the one-year diploma course would start in October 2008 and XLRI would conduct the entrance examination.

The state government would provide scholarships to the deserving students who hail from economically weak family backgrounds.

“The institute is a big boon in the industry sector. The B-school would gift new entrepreneurs to our state. Our government is committed to promote trade and industry,” said the deputy chief minister, after the signing of the MoU.

The XLRI director assured that the B-school management would try its best to shape up aspiring entrepreneurs of the state.