DISHA

With the objective of fulfilling NIF’s larger goal of up-scaling grassroots innovations and instances of traditional knowledge SCAI presents DISHA- an Annual Business Plan Competition which gives students an opportunity to convert innovations and traditional knowledge at grassroots into practical business propositions. Students from educational institutions participate to prepare business plans for technologies from the database of NIF and the best ones get rewarded suitably. These business plans would be used by NIF as investment opportunity document (IOD) for approaching prospective entrepreneurs and mentors who would help convert these innovations into products and enterprise/commercialize the same. NIF also has a dedicated incubation fund called Micro Venture Incubation Fund (MVIF) to render financial assistance to all entrepreneurial initiatives based on grassroots innovations. Hence, it is desirable that the business plans prepared by the students are realistic and practical and help build a value chain around innovations by providing incubation assistance.

In the year 2004 DISHA was launched in two variant DISHA –North, a regional competition covering 9 north Indian state and DISHA- 2004, an all India event. DISHA has been a grand success with participation from 557 teams representing 79 premier educational institutes. The winner of DISHA 2004 was a team from National Institute of Bank Management, Pune for business plan on garlic peeling machine and for Disha –North which was won by a team from Ford School of Management, Delhi who had prepared business plan on Motor protection device.
The wining team was felicitated by Dr. Mashelker at the 3rd Presidential National grassroots technological innovation and traditional knowledge award, 2005.

Read more on SCAI at http://disha.scai.org.in/index.php