PhD fellowship programme will help in generating new biz ideas: S Jaishankar

Launching the PhD fellowship programme at IITs for ASEAN students here on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this platform will help in generating 'new generation business ideas' and 'exciting technological breakthroughs'.

"We hope that new generation business ideas and exciting technological breakthroughs will be launched from the platforms provided by these fellowships enabling Indian and South Asian students together," the Union Minister said.

He also added, "We recognise that by broadening the base of recruitment of doctoral-level students, we also widened the pool of research that is carried out, thereby by enhancing the global reputation of our IITs."

According to officials, IIT-Delhi has been designated by the Minister of Human Resource Development (MHRD) as the coordinating IIT for the fellowship programme launched at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"IIT-Delhi has developed a web portal (http://asean.iitd.ac.in) to administer the application and admission process. ASEAN students can log in to the portal to apply for the PhD programmes of their choice at various IITs," said the MEA in a press release.

The first batch of the ASEAN students will be admitted in January 2020 and the fellowship programme at a total budget outlay of Rs 300 crore (approximately US $ 45 million) is the single-largest capacity development initiative of India in its partnership with ASEAN.