A ‘Food Business Accelerator’ for expanding start-ups and innovations has come up on the campus of CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru.
K.S.M.S. Raghavarao, who retired as the Director of CSIR-CFTRI recently, said the new facility would be a boon for budding entrepreneurs and start-ups which have the ‘Proof-of-Concept’ ready.
‘Boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat’
He said the Prime Minister-Formalisation of Micro Enterprise (PM-FME) scheme launched under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ would help more microenterprises enter the food processing sector.
The facility will provide opportunities for prospective entrepreneurs and start-ups to be part of the accelerator facility for a period up to one year or so. These companies can explore the avenues for product development, scale-up operations, packaging and shelf-life studies for commercialising their products, a release said here on Friday.
Expert mentoring sessions also will be available for sharpening the technical and business skills in fulfilling the tasks effortlessly. The newly-launched facility supports a total of eight suites spreading over 2,000 square feet.
The CSIR-CFTRI has already established a Nutra-Phyto Incubation Centre and Common Instrumentation Facility (NPIC-CIF) with the support of the State government in 2016 and presently 10 companies are functioning. So far, six companies have exited successfully.
Collaboration with IIT-Tirupati
CSIR-CFTRI has also signed an MoU with IIT-Tirupati, a third generation IIT established in the year 2015, in a virtual meet recently for undertaking joint projects in the advanced areas of food processing, exchange of faculty and mentoring of students from both the institutions.
Mr. Raghavarao, in the release, said synergy between the institutions would help start-ups and domestic industry for adopting innovative processing for increased value addition to locally grown agri-commodities.
Further, one of the genuine requirements felt in the industry is the demand for increased automation in traditional food manufacturing. “With the huge expertise on automation available with IIT faculty, the pact would be an important step in meeting the import substitution of food processing machineries under the ‘Atmanirbhar scheme’,” he said.
Sathyanarayana, Director, IITT, during the virtual meet, said food technology and precision agriculture are the major thrust areas of the institute in the national scenario. Andhra Pradesh being the rice bowl of the country, along with flourishing aquaculture, mango pulp production in Chittoor, tomato in Madanapalle etc., the potential for innovation in this sector is immense, he stated.
Pact with IIT-Guwahati
Also, CSIR-CFTRI has signed an MoU with IIT-Guwahati towards forging collaborations in the areas of bioprocessing, polymers, fermentation and bioengineering R and D in the country. The partnership, according to the release, would be helpful for formulating ‘twinning projects’ under various schemes of the Department of Biotechnology for the development of the north-east region.
