The Entrepreneurship Conclave ‘07
On the 15th of August, 2007, 60 years after we were declared an independent populace, there was a special gathering of prominent individuals from the Eastern part of the country which took place at Kolkata. This conclave was held to take a definitive step towards promoting entrepreneurship in the country and moving towards a ‘Developed India’. Some of the Addresses made were as follows:
Dr. Debesh Das (H’nble IT Minister, Govt. of West Bengal): “These days development cannot be thought of segregated from entrepreneurship. There has been a major turnaround and now young graduates are more than ready to give up on the comforts of a good job and fat pay cheque to give entrepreneurship a shot.”
Mr. Biswajeet (Intel): “Till only recently back, MNCs which came to trade in India used to shy away from introducing the latest technology or product. But, of late now, MNCs have come up with state of-the-art technology and products for the Indian market. New avenues are opening up a whole lot of exciting opportunities.”
Dr. Dipankar Chakravarty (Professor, University of Colorado): “Designing a product is a challenge nonetheless, but, marketing it is a subtle art. Even in the US, people lack a complete knowledge of marketing. Not everyone has a budget like an Intel or a Google. You need to assess risks pretty carefully before undertaking any venture.”
Shoummo Acharya (Founder, MD and CEO, VI eTrans Pvt Ltd): “Post independence India was tied down by permit raj. If we sift through India till 1990 there are not many examples of people who have succeeded without utilizing the permit system. Now, the system has changed and we need to help the underprivileged in our country to prosper by creating jobs for them ourselves”
