ASPIRE – Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI)

ASPIRE – Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI)

The main objective of Livelihood Business Incubation is setting up business incubators to incubate, provide skill development training to youth, impart entrepreneurship and facilitate funding for empowering the entrepreneurs to set up their business enterprises. The main focus of these incubators is creating jobs at the local level and reducing unemployment. These incubators create a favorable ecosystem for the development of entrepreneurship in the country.  Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI) is an entity set up for imparting skill development & incubation programmes for promoting entrepreneurship and employment generation in agro-rural sector with special focus on rural and underserved areas.

Objectives of LBI

  • To generate employment opportunities by facilitating formal, scalable micro-enterprise creation.
  • To skill, up-skill, re-skill unemployed, existing self-employed/ wage earners in new technologies.
  • To provide skilled human capital to nearby industrial clusters and promote innovations for strengthening the competitiveness in the MSME sector

Functions of LBI

  1. To conduct outreach programs to create awareness about the initiative and on-board prospective
  2. Design and conduct incubation programs in the form of workshops to facilitate new micro-enterprise creation.
  3. To offer varied support services like financial, legal, product designing, accreditation, compliance, trademarks, etc.,
  4. To offer advisory services to the existing and informal enterprises to formalize them and make them scalable.
  5. To facilitate funding for micro-entrepreneurs by leveraging various Central Government /State Government Schemes and engaging with financial institutions.
  6. To provide hands-on training to trainees by simulating the industrial processes on the plants & machineries
  7. To create a conducive ecosystem for promoting entrepreneurship and generating employment by
  8. Partnering with local entities catering to the upstream and downstream activities of the chosen thrust area.
  9. To make provision for using the facility at the Livelihood Business Incubation Centre for development of product prototypes.

Pondicherry University, ASPIRE -Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI)

  1. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MMSME) sanctioned Rs.100 Lakhs to the Department of International Business, Pondicherry University on 8th January 2021 to start “MSME-ASPIRE Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI) in the Pondicherry University Campus.”

    The  following  are the  objectives of the LBI: Firstly to Enhance the Agricultural Productivity through Innovative Practices, Secondly Imparting Entrepreneurship and Employability skill among youth,  Thirdly to Promote Marketability for Agricultural and  Agro Based Products and Finally the identification and development  of low end technology for cost effective production.

    The MSME-ASPIRE Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI) Pondicherry University is to  impart skills and entrepreneurship ideas specially  focusing on  five different thrust areas: (1) Agricultural Equipment Servicing (2) Seed Bank and Nursery Management (Horticulture), (3) Bio-fertilizer (Waste to Wealth Management), (4) Exports of Fruits and Flowers and (5) Use of Solar for Agriculture and Agro based industries by covering youth belongs to  Union Territory of Pondicherry and its bordering districts of Tamil Nadu.

    The LBI in Pondicherry University proposed to train 600 -700 incubates every year which includes the students studying in Pondicherry University and its affiliating colleges and also the farmers and unemployed youths belonging to this region.  Apart from imparting employment training and entrepreneurship orientation, this LBI is proposed to run certification courses as per National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) in the above said thrust areas.

    Presently, the people who are engaged in agricultural sector in the targeted area of Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu are lacking scientific agricultural production methods, lack of training in servicing of agricultural equipment’s and products, lack of knowledge on value added products from agricultural sectors and export opportunities, lack of idea in use of bio-fertilizers and solar energy for agricultural sector development. 

    The training and skill set to be offered by “MSME-ASPIRE Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI) Pondicherry University” will fulfil the above short comings with the help of institutional support in terms of conducting training programme and entrepreneurship development with the support of faculty specialized in the areas of Green Energy, Pollution Control, Bio-Technology, Earth Science, Micro biology and ecology. The LBI also got its linkage with agro industries, NGOs, Government Agencies to impart entrepreneurship and skill development of the youth in these region.

List of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programmes of ASPIRE – LBI

( No. of Trades / Courses to be conducted along with Course duration, Course fee, batch Size and no. of Batches)

Sl. No

Thrust Area(s)

Course

*NSQF Compliance (No. Of Hours)

List Of Machinery Used

Number Of Batches

Participants

Per

Batch

Estimated Fees

 (Rs.)

1

Agri equipment’s services

Tractor servicing

200 hrs (level 4)

Model Tractors

3/Year

25

  5,000

2

Agri equipment’s services

Tillage Equipment

200 hrs (level 4)

Model Tillage

4/Year

25

   5,000

3

Agri equipment’s services

Spraying & Dusting

200 hrs (level 4)

Model pesticide equipment’s

4/Year

20

   5,000

4

Agri equipment’s services

Soil Testing & Crop Technician

1600 hrs (level 4)

As per NSQF guidelines

1/Year

20

 43,000

5.

Exportable Fruits

Horticulture

2080 hrs/level 4

As per NSQF

1/Year

20

43,000

6

Exportable Fruits

Entrepreneurship Development

600 hrs/level 4

Smart class room

2/Year

25

10,000

7

Seed Bank & Plant nursery Management

Seed Processing worker

130 hrs/level 3

As per NSQF

5/Year

25

3,000

8

Bio Fertilizer Development

Organic Grower

200 hrs/level 4

As per NSQF

4/Year

25

2,150

9

Fabrication of Solar materials for food processing

Solar Energy

200 hrs/level 4

As per NSQF

2/Year

20

5000

*Courses are as per  National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF)- Government of India

Types of Machinery and Equipment’s Installed for Running Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme

 

Sl. No

Thrust Area

Name of Machinery and equipment’s  

Budget Allocation

1

Agri Equipment’s services

Model tractors, Tillage & Agri related Machines

38.80

2

Seed bank & Plant Nursery Management

Equipment’s for Horticulture and Floriculture

Automatic Nursery Tray Machine

7.50

3

Bio fertilizer development

Soil testing equipment’s and Lab tools

19.20

4

Exportable fruits

Fruit Processing Equipment’s (Dryer), Packaging Machines 

23.50

5.

Solar Drying Systems For
Food Processing Industries

Fully automated sheet bending machine, Tig welding machine and Solar dryers

11.00

Total

100 Lakhs

“PU ASPIRE LBI is in the   process of Purchase of Equipment’s and Machinery”

Governing Body

Prof. Gurmeet Singh                                      – Chairperson – ASPIRE -LBI

Vice-Chancellor, Pondicherry University

Puducherry – 605014

 

Mr. U. Venkatachalapathi                                       – Member

General Manager (SG)

NSIC Technical Services Centre

National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC)

Chennai

Pincode -600032  

 

Dr. B. Ramakichenin @ Balagandhi                           – Member

Director of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare

Government of Puducherry

Puducherry

 

Dr.Shamarao Jahagirdar                                        – Member

Former – Dean

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute

Karaikal – 609 603, U.T. of Puducherry, India

 

Prof. K.Chandra Sekhara Rao                             – Special Invitee

Dean, School of Management

Pondicherry University

Pondicherry – 605014

 

Prof.  P.G.Arul                                              – Coordinator, ASPIRE – LBI

Department of International Business,

Pondicherry University

Puducherry – 605014