Prof. Srikanth Jadcherla, CEO - SEER AKADEMIA

FM should set-up University Entrepreneur Fund~ Indian Universities should encourage entrepreneurs among faculty and students ~ Indian Govt. over the years showed great thrust on higher education along with primary education in India by allocating funds to set-up new or upgrade existing premier educational institutions like the IITs and IIMs. But what has always been lacking is the encouragement for entrepreneurs and trust in entrepreneurship. According to a recent report India will consume electronics worth USD 320 bn by 2015; while under the best scenario we will be able to produce goods worth USD 200 bn in India. This demand – supply gap will be close to our oil import bill. Skill deficit doubled with lack of entrepreneurial support is stopping India from tapping the opportunity knocking on the door. While, the Universities in US have played a key role in fostering entrepreneurship, similar role is seen missing in their Indian counterparts. Finance Minister should consider to set-up a University Entrepreneurial Fund which will encourage the faculty and students to establish a start-up and meet the consumer demand. In Union Budget 2009-10, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs 2113 crore for IITs and NITs in India. Of this sum, Rs 450 crore was allocated to set-up new IITs and NITs. A smaller portion of this amount every year will certainly do wonders by encouraging many in India turn entrepreneurs. It is also important for us to learn a lesson or two from countries like Taiwan, Singapore and Israel, where a number of electronics' companies have sprung up to become giant corporations that supply to the need of entire world. About SEER AKADEMI: SEER AKADEMI, an initiative of Synopsys University Program provides industry-leading EDA tools and resources for teaching and academic research in India. The planned focus of the Programme is on training highly qualified specialists for India in the field of very large scale integration (VLSI) design through using tools and solutions from Synopsys. Using Synopsys products in a learning environment provides students with hands-on experience and enables graduates to quickly bring valuable skills to the fast paced world of semiconductor technology. About Synopsys Inc: Synopsys, Inc. (NasdaqGS: SNPS), is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, software-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 65 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.