The meeting under the chairmanship of Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog discussed initiatives to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. It was attended by Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog Dr Arvind Panagariya, Member NITI Aayog Dr VK Saraswat, CEO NITI Aayog Mrs Sindhushree Khullar, and other members of the expert committee on innovation and entrepreneurship.

The meeting took place in the backdrop of announcement of establishment of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) under the NITI Aayog by the Finance Minister in his Budget Speech for 2015-16. In order to take these initiatives forward, the NITI Aayog set up an Expert Committee, Chaired by Professor Tarun Khanna, Director, South Asia Institute, Harvard University and Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School on 21st April, 2015. In the first meeting of the Expert Committee on 1st May, 2015, a decision was taken to hold discussions with selected ministries, departments and other stakeholders who have taken initiatives to promote innovation/ entrepreneurship.

This will be followed by a broader consultation process with the stakeholders in the innovation and entrepreneurship space by the NITI Aayog tomorrow on 18th June, 2015. The veterans, industry leaders and heads of prominent incubators, representatives of Industry associations, sector specific experts, service sector representatives, venture funding agencies, educational institutions and representatives of States will join the consultation process. It is expected that the deliberations will give a fillip to the initiatives to promote innovation/ entrepreneurship across the country.