Promoting Entrepreneurial Universities in India: A Case Study of IIT Madras

Entrepreneurial Universities (EUs) are gaining increasing significance across the globe, as a source of deep-tech start-ups. EUs through the generation of knowledge-based entrepreneurship, along with teaching and research, are emerging as a new source of deep-tech startups in the developed world. Among the emerging economies, India has the potential to emerge as the leading Start-up Nation globally. If an increasing number of deep-tech start-ups has to emerge from India, it is imperative to consciously and explicitly promote EUs. However, EUs are a new phenomenon and efforts to promote EUs are at their infancy in India as of now. Though India pursues an exclusive “startup promotion policy” at the national level as well as at the regional levels since the middle of the last decade, there is no explicit emphasis on EUs yet. Against this backdrop, this article explores the evolution of IIT Madras as an EU along with its Research Park, its major entities, their interrelationship, and role they play in the generation of deep-tech start-ups. Subsequently, the article proposes an EU structure for deep-tech startups, in the context of IIT Madras. Finally, the article brings out how IIT Madras has gained Sustainable Competitive Advantage through its EU and then derives policy implications for the promotion of EUs.