(MENAFN- KNN India) New Delhi, Dec 4 (KNN) The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and Hitachi MGRM Net Ltd. (HMN) have entered into a strategic partnership through the signing of a Statement of Intent (SoI) on December 1, to develop the“MStarTM Global AI Connect” platform.

The collaboration aims to create a democratised innovation ecosystem across India, connecting students, schools, incubators, mentors, research institutions, and industry.

The SoI was signed by Dr. Deepak Bagla, AIM Mission Director, NITI Aayog, and Dr. Bharat Kaushal, Executive Chairman, Hitachi India and Managing Director, Hitachi MGRM Net Ltd.

The initiative will establish a federated, national-scale digital innovation backbone linking rural, suburban, and urban schools to mentors, incubators, accelerators, research institutions, and industry players.

Its overarching goal is to strengthen the school-to-startup pipeline, accelerate lab-to-market translation of Indian innovations, and ensure their global export readiness.

Speaking at the signing, Dr. Bagla said the partnership will help identify and nurture innovation potential among young people, moving from isolated success stories to a structured, scalable, and inclusive pipeline of innovators, startups, and job creators.

Dr. Kaushal added that the platform is designed to instill problem-solving and innovation skills in students while providing a network to connect with mentors, incubators, industry, and markets, emphasising accessibility, multilingual support, and alignment with India's long-term development goals.

The collaboration seeks to facilitate nationwide enrolment of schools, students, mentors, institutions, and partners, including underserved rural areas, while integrating virtual Atal Tinkering Labs (vATLs) and virtual Atal Incubation/Innovation Centres (vAICs) with physical nodes to expand access, resources, and remote mentorship.

The platform will support end-to-end innovation workflows from ideation to pilot projects, track Technology,Innovation Readiness Levels, manage milestones, and provide avenues for challenge grants and procurement pathways.

It will also nurture talented learners, embed design thinking, foster intellectual property creation, support ethical research practices, and enable investor connections, public procurement, and export facilitation.

Policy-grade analytics will provide insights on inclusion, skills, startups, IP, jobs, and trade to inform Centre- and State-level decision-making.

(KNN Bureau)

MENAFN04122025000155011030ID1110438784