DPIIT Inks 50+ MoUs to Boost Manufacturing Innovation

• DPIIT signs over 50 MoUs with top companies to enhance manufacturing innovation
• Initiative aims to foster collaboration between startups and established firms
• Focus on creating manufacturing incubators to support scaling and access to resources

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has formed over 50 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with established brands such as ITC, Flipkart, Mercedes-Benz, boAt, and Hero MotoCorp, with the goal of enhancing the startup ecosystem for manufacturing and innovating products.

The purpose of each MoU is to help enhance collaboration between established corporates and startups through the formation of manufacturing incubators. According to reports, the DPIIT has joined corporates, industry groups and unicorns in the name of enabling collaboration.

The official stated, “So far, the department has inked MoUs with more than 50 firms for this purpose”, explaining that intention is to help establish larger industry players as part of India's startup innovation ecosystem.

Other signatories of the MoUs include HDFC Capital Advisors, Zepto, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Paytm, Walmart, and Ather Energy.

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The above MoU formation is part of the larger government strategy to promote innovation-led manufacturing, specifically for startups, who find the cost of common infrastructure and scaling resources to be challenging.

The official added, “Manufacturing startups require the backing of ecosystem stakeholders to grow and scale. Manufacturing-focused incubators play a key role in providing shared infrastructure, pilot testing, and early-stage manufacturing support”.

The incubators will provide plug-and-play facilities, which will alleviate the capital expenditure burden placed on product-focused startups while speeding up design development and prototyping. They also act as a conduit between startups and larger manufacturers in terms of access to test beds, pilot lines, design centers, and technical capabilities.

Whether established by a corporate, academic institution, or research center, the incubators enable a collaborative environment among multiple stakeholders, delivering acceleration for innovation while at the same time providing startups access to important market linkages and risk capital.