Gem and jewellery incubation hub to be set up at NIT Trichy

Trichy: An incubation hub for the gem and jewellery industry will come up on NIT Trichy campus to offer innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology support in the sector. The hub, a part of the MoU signed between the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), Mumbai, and the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation (CEDI), NIT Trichy, has floated a joint venture ‘JewelStart’ which would guide startups and local entrepreneurs to overcome their problems.The hub will come up at the old library block of NIT Trichy and will have equipment to provide end-to-end support for startups through pre-incubation, incubation, acceleration, and post-incubation growth plans. Besides startups, researchers, and students, the initiative will enable entrepreneurs and industry professionals to transform promising ideas into ventures through mentorship, technology support, business development assistance, investor connect, and marketing opportunities.The proposed hub will guide in jewellery design and product innovation, advanced manufacturing technologies for entrepreneurs through materials and metallurgical innovations. “The hub will also concentrate on digital transformation, sustainable and responsible jewellery practices for existing entrepreneurs. Export opportunities will be explored, and e-commerce options will be popularized. Startups’ problems will be identified and analysed to provide solutions,” Susil Kumar K, CEO, CEDI-NITT, said.

The MoU was signed by Siddhartha Himmatsinghka, chief operating officer, Surya Narayanan, southern regional director, of GJEPC, and M Umapathy, director, CEDI-NIT Trichy. The partnership combines GJEPC’s industry expertise, global market linkages, and sectoral leadership with CEDI’s strengths in entrepreneurship development, innovation management, startup incubation, and technology commercialisation.

The initiative is expected to generate employment opportunities in the sector.