The Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, Shri Banwarilal Purohit, inaugurated a Deeptech Startup Accelerator Program dedicated to catalyzing innovation in agriculture and water technology called SAMRIDHI (Strategic Acceleration for Market, Research, Innovation & Development: a Holistic Initiative for ICPS Startups) hosted by iHub AwaDH, a Technology and Innovation Hubs set up UNDER National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

The  SAMRIDHI conclave in which five strategic collaborations were formalized, featured five deep-tech innovations. A total of 13 startups shortlisted through rigorous evaluation, presented their ideas while 25 startups showcased their solutions at the exhibition. More than 30 experts spoke on strategic acceleration for market research, innovation, and development.

Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Secretary of the Science and Engineering Research Board; Senior Adviser, DST, GoI, reinforced the efforts taken by the NMICPS to orchestrate the Technology Self-reliant Atmanirbhar Bharat. Mission Director of NM on ICPS Dr Ekta Kapoor, projected the key highlights of the mission leading to CPS technology interventions across sectors such as agriculture infrastructure health, defence, and environment.

Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director of IIT Ropar, Prof. Renu Vig, Vice Chancellor of Panjab University, Chandigarh, Dr Pushpendra Pal Singh, Project Director, AwaDH and Mr. Amitabh Nag, CEO of Bhashini Digital India were also present on the ocassion.  The event emphasized DST's pivotal role in shaping the future of technology in the region through NMICPS. The Mission has led to the generation of 311 technologies, 549 technology products and created 1613 CPS research bases and contributed to more than 60000 cps skilling.

The conclave organised by IIT Ropar’s Technology and Innovation Hub AwaDH was supported by 46 investment partners, and over 50 jury members evaluated and mentored the startups. Over 110 partners nationwide actively contributed to driving innovation and fostering technological self-reliance. The program is executed with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM – ICPS), reinforcing DST's commitment to advancing technology and innovation.

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