BITS Pilani is known for taking a flexible and Innovative approach when it comes to education. According to the students, BITS Pilani is putting forth an entrepreneurial vision. Students were given access to incubators pushing them to learn and grow as entrepreneurs.
Allowing students and faculty to take a year off so they could pursue their dreams of starting their own companies start their own companies and encouraging people was the aim of such a decision.
The policy states ‘In case a student intends to take a year off to build a venture-full time, the application may be submitted to the dean for approval.’ A copy of the policy document was shared with the students and with Moneycontrol to review the same. Taking on an institute like IIT which has been at the top of its game in terms of startups and the unicorn ecosystem.
The policy will also help students gain credits and points which will reflect in their degrees and other assessments. This is a great opportunity for the faculty as well allowing them to take a sabbatical or paid leave for one year in accordance with FAD (Faculty Affairs Division).
An innovation and startup policy was introduced by BITS Pilani. Which guided startups and provided assistance to get access to the resources required. Data from Tracxn Technologies suggests that BITS Pilani alumni have founded over 900 startups out of which 13 have made it to the list of Indian Unicorns which includes- Swiggy, BigBasket, Groww, and Zeta. Facilities are made available to students whose startups have received funding and who have gone through their incubation center by PIEDS (Pilani Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Society) the official tech business incubator for startups.
Utkarsh Choudhary, a 3rd-year student at BITS, and current chief of Conquest said “Deferred placements only help if you’re starting up in your final year but the option for a year off would help all the students. I think the new policy is a way to structurally and actively enable entrepreneurship on campus.”
