CFTRI and NSIC Host Mysuru Event to Connect Innovators with MSMEs

Quick Summary

• Tech Connect 2025 – Bridging Innovation and Enterprise, a collaboration between CSIR-CFTRI and NSIC, was held on july 30 at the CFTRI campus.
• The event aimed to connect innovative food processing technologies with MSMEs, entrepreneurs, and industry stakeholders.
• Chief guest Saravanakumar R., Zonal GM, NSIC Bengaluru, highlighted the importance of food technology in daily life and detailed NSIC’s support initiatives like collateral-free credit facilitation, marketing support for trade fairs, machinery leasing, skill development training, and digital commercialisation assistance.
• More than 150 participants attended, including 95 MSMEs from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu along with Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Laghu udyog Bharati members, students, scientific staff of CFTRI incubatees and also representatives from Karnataka Chamber of Commerce.
• Aashithosh Ashok Inamdar, Head of Technology Transfer at CSIR-CFTRI explained that the programme aimed to bridge gaps between researchers/innovators and MSME entrepreneurs by showcasing technologies and facilitating technology transfers (ToT).
• Discussions focused on deploying CFTRI-developed food technologies across sectors such as grains/millets/spices/fruits & vegetables/meat/traditional foods while promoting rural entrepreneurship through partnerships with funding agencies.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The Tech Connect 2025 roadshow is a noteworthy example of India’s focus on fostering innovation-driven entrepreneurship within micro-, small-, medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The collaboration between CSIR-CFTRI-a leader in research-and NSIC-a government PSU under MSME-aims to translate cutting-edge science into practical applications for business growth.

Such programs serve dual purposes: enabling knowlege transfer from academia/research institutions to industrial entities while concurrently empowering grassroots-level entrepreneurial activity specifically tailored to regional food processing needs. By addressing challenges such as access to credit or expertise in emerging markets like e-commerce/digital invoicing systems/platform listing-it underscores India’s drive towards modernizing traditional sectors into globally competitive industries.

For India’s economy-especially rural areas-the emphasis on collaboration models blending sponsored research projects/consultancy or incubation-supported businesses offers substantial opportunity for capacity-building among stakeholders who may lack foundational access or else logistics benefits would/could make Idea more impactful mobile