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Ideas to Implementation 2003 Ideas to Implementation, 2003, the flagship event of the Entrepreneurship Cell, IIM Calcutta was launched with a grand ceremony at the ITC Sonar Bangla, Kolkata on the 14th of August, 2003. The event, organized on a yearly basis is the largest business plan contest in India, and one of the biggest in the Asia-Pacific. The event is spread over a duration of around five months and three stages. Boasting of well-known personalities from the world of industry and academia as its judges, the event attracts applications from around 400 corporate houses and colleges across India. The evening at the ceremony was kicked off with an address by Prof. B. N. Srivastava, Dean, IIM Calcutta. Welcoming all present to the gathering, he talked about the need of nurturing entrepreneurship amongst the managers of today. Speaking about IIM Calcutta in particular, he talked about the entrepreneurial spirit embedded in IIM Calcutta students, saying that around 30% of the IIM Calcutta students after a few years in the industry venture out, opening and heading their own businesses. This was followed by a presentation about the E-cell and its activities, i2I - its evolution and growth and finally about i2I 2003. Thereafter, the evening saw addresses from Prof. Mritiunjoy Mohanty, Placement Coordinator at IIM Calcutta, and Mr. Anand Nayak, Vice President, Media Relations, ITC (lead sponsors of the event). Mr. Nayak wished best of luck to the i2I organizing team and promised a continuous support from ITC towards making events like i2I a success. Prof. Mohanty talked about the essence of entrepreneurship and how i2I fits in the scheme of things. This year i2I introduced incubation for the first three winners, in association with Indiaco, a venture funding company. Prof. Mohanty said that lots of people have ideas but its the execution part where support is needed. He said that by bringing in incubation as the incentive for winning, E-cell has done a commendable job of fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship across the managers of tomorrow. This was followed by a small speech by Mr. Atri Bhattacharya, Executive Director (Promotions), WBIDC. He stressed complete co-operation from WBIDC towards helping in incubation of the winning business plans and also providing mentoring to those who needed help in developing their initial ideas into feasible business plans. The ceremony ended with the formal launch of i2I 2003 and the question answer round which saw the E-Cell president, Anant Khirbat, and E-Cell member, Varun Gupta, taking on questions from the media. The questions revolved around the growth of i2I in the past three years, the timelines for the event, the prizes, the incubation and the level of participation. This was followed by discussions amongst the eminent people from the media, industry and IIM Calcutta present at the ceremony over high tea. Contributed by: - |
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