Jammu: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu on Sunday formalised a collaboration by signing a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) and three start-ups here to accelerate translational research, foster technology-driven entrepreneurship and bolster regional economic development, an official said.

The MoU was inked by IIT Jammu Director Manoj Singh Gaur and CSIR-IIIM Jammu Director Zabeer Ahmed in the presence of senior scientists, faculty and officials from both institutions.

Representatives of the three start-ups — Songbaran Chatterjee (Biogreen Projects), Manigandan Kumarappan (Evlogia Eco Care) and Mahadeva Swamy (Crop Domain) — also participated in the ceremony, marking their induction into the collaborative framework, he said.

The key pillars of the partnership include leveraging CSIR-IIIM's strengths in natural product discovery and drug development alongside IIT Jammu's engineering expertise to co-develop market-ready technologies.

CSIR-IIIM-TBI and IIT Jammu's I3C incubator will provide mentoring, prototyping facilities and investor connect to nurture these ventures, while workshops, industry-oriented training programmes and knowledge-exchange events will be organised to cultivate local talent and generate employment opportunities, the official said.

The MoU will also streamline pathways for laboratory innovations to reach commercial deployment in healthcare, sustainable materials and agri-biotech sectors, he added.

The collaboration will be jointly governed by senior leadership from IIT Jammu and CSIR-IIIM in close partnership with the start-ups, fostering an ecosystem where science, technology and entrepreneurship intersect to drive India's innovation-led growth, he said.

Senior officials from both organisations underscored the MoU's potential to transform Jammu into a hub of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence.

Gaur said, “This tripartite alliance exemplifies IIT Jammu's commitment to bridging cutting-edge research with societal impact. By combining our engineering capabilities with CSIR-IIIM's life-science expertise and dynamic start-ups, we will fast-track the development and commercialisation of solutions that benefit our region and beyond.”