The Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC), a not-for-profit registered trust conceived at the suggestion of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), has asked the small and medium scale manufacturers in the country to initiate steps to encourage strong collaborative working relations with the academia so as to encourage innovation. This demand was made by FMC after analysing that small and medium enterprises have been maintaining an alarmingly low profile when it comes to innovation and innovation friendly projects.

This issue was observed and raised by the FMC in a recent report prepared after thorough research which clearly states that one of the biggest hindrances towards innovation is the lack of adequate collaborative alliance between the industry and academia. It pointed out that though there are research activities being carried out by the academia and various other institutions, they are hardly of any relevance to the industry.

Sourabh Gargav, head, life sciences innovation cell, Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) pointed out that even the research work that gets carried out by the academia and research institutes hardly get noticed or recognised by the small scale manufacturers due to their lack of interest in extending their relation beyond recruitment purpose. To change this scenario and to encourage an innovation friendly environment, FMC has urged the companies to come forward and take interest in initiatives that are innovation oriented as only such approach can help them in their growth in the near future.

He said, “Change of attitude is a must if we really want to develop into an innovation friendly country. It is surprising that in spite of having so much potential, the industry has been remaining latent in developing their relation with the academia. It must be realised that lot of research activities are undertaken by them which can be utilised for the good of innovation, and will be beneficial for both the industry as well as these institutions as well.”

He further pointed out that like the industry even the academia is not forthright when it comes to collaborative research as they hardly do it in consultation with the industries' needs and requirements. It was observed that the academic institutes come forward to collaborate with companies only with the perspective to ensure placement to their students and such other activities.

With a view to change the present condition, FMC in collaboration with department of science and technology (DST), under the project for promoting innovation cluster in India recently initiated a project called, institution; industry innovation cell (Triple I cell) in Hyderabad. Under this project, Triple I cell was set up in two pharmacy colleges in Hyderabad to extensively work with the industry for innovation.

These cells were given 14 innovative projects to handle initially, out of which seven has already been delivered to the respective company. Gargav informed that interestingly all the companies who were involved in this project were small and medium scale enterprises rather than multinationals which is a great news considering that this trend if directed properly will be a huge boost for innovation.