7 IAS Officers from the 2024 Batch visited i-Hub Gujarat
On 26th February, 2026, seven IAS Officers from the 2024 Batch, along with senior Government officials, visited i-Hub Gujarat to understand the startup ecosystem and the support systems enabling innovators across the state.
The visit featured a roundtable discussion chaired by Shri Bipin Talati (Indian Administrative Service) (Commissioner of Technical Education, Government of Gujarat), with participation from i-Hub Gujarat officials. Shri Hiranmay Mahanta (CEO, i-Hub Gujarat), along with Shri Jaykumar Joshi (Program Head, i-Hub), presented a comprehensive overview of i-Hub’s structure and flagship initiatives.
The officers were briefed on how i-Hub Gujarat functions as a common resource centre to nurture early-stage innovation through a structured hub-and-spoke model. In this framework, i-Hub operates as the central hub, working closely with university-level incubation centres and partner institutions across the state as spokes, ensuring decentralised access to innovation support while maintaining centralized strategic coordination.
Through this model, a structured pipeline has been established to support innovators from the ideation stage at SSIP-backed university incubation centres, progressing to prototype-stage grants and incubation support at i-Hub, and further to private funding facilitation through Investor Demo Days and sector-focused acceleration programs. The support extends to IP and patent filing assistance, testing and validation assistance, and access to co-working and infrastructure facilities, supporting startups throughout their journey from “Mind to Market”.
As part of the visit, the officers also observed the ongoing one-on-one pitching sessions under the “𝐒𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 - 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐲”, providing them with a practical understanding of how such structured support mechanisms are implemented.
𝐈𝐀𝐒 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬:
Ms. Ritika Aima, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Tapi
Ms. Anjali Ajay Thakur, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Panchmahal - Godhra
Shri Atul Singh, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Amreli
Shri Abhishek Pramod Tale, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Banaskantha - Palanpur
Ms. Dharani M, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Kutch
Ms. Vrushali Santram Kamble, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Rajkot
Ms. Neha Byadwal, Supernumerary Assistant Collector, Bharuch
