Inside IIT Madras: Ace startup mentor Ashok Jhunjhunwala to retire next year, says work still unfinished

Ace startup mentor and IIT Madras Research Park president Ashok Jhunjhunwala has often recounted how, after returning to India following a brief stint in the US in the early 1980s, he faced problems getting a gas connection and a telephone line.

Such was the waiting period that he was told he may never get a gas connection. So much so that one of his most treasured wedding gifts has been a gas cylinder. It took him almost eight years to get a telephone line.

Nothing was easily available, the 70-year-old once said, adding that production fell short of demand because there was practically no technology development.

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So, over the next 40 years, Jhunjhunwala concentrated on promoting innovation in the industry – from sectors like telecom and his work in the TeNeT group to the setting up of the IITMRP, which has incubated over 200 deep-tech startups.

The focus has always been on taking R&D to commercial scale, he told Moneycontrol earlier this month in an interview that covered a range of subjects. Edited excerpts:

From the 1980s, when you had difficulty in procuring basic amenities, to heading a facility responsible for the development of hundreds of startups. How would you chart this journey?

We have done a lot of positive things. The country has developed a lot. We have pretty much most of the things that the West has, and a significant section of our population can easily obtain them. But there is still an important gap. There is still a very large number of people with extremely low income and the divide between very high-income people and low-income people has increased. In that sense, a lot of tasks are still very unfinished.

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We have also built this research park, which is truly a shining example of what India can do… we are doing it in a small way, but we need to do it in a 100x manner for India to make a difference.

So the focus, in terms of innovation, should be on the rural economy? 

No, no, that is not necessarily the rule. The urban poor situation is as bad. Many of the people working here, the security staff, housekeeping staff, and pretty much anyone we talked to, they are getting Rs 12,000 per month, and the family income is Rs 17,000. So, in cities like Chennai, how do you manage with something like this? That issue remains. So it has nothing to do with just being rural or urban.

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For instance, someone told me that 40 percent of fruits and vegetables grown in Tamil Nadu are wasted. Why is there not a solution that addresses this issue? How do you ensure that every tomato that is grown reaches somebody's plate and also gives a decent price to a farmer? Each of them is a challenge. And I think a lot of work needs to be done. And while technology is not the end all, technology can certainly help.

You have stressed the need to ensure returns on investments, how projects should not get stuck in R&D and should get commercialised. You also said scientists in IITs, CSIR labs were not doing enough. What has IIT Madras done differently?

By and large, traditionally, scientists all over India, maybe in many parts of the world, were confined to their labs. They do R&D, they get the results, they publish, and they are happy. It was never the focus of taking your findings and translating it into a product.

From day one, my focus has always been how do you not just do R&D, but take it to commercialisation. And that's what I have been doing. Yes, probably IIT Madras has done a little more than what others have. But I'll still say what IIT Madras has done is quite limited.

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We really need to focus on scaled commercialisation. India is still importing everything. Why can't we have Indian products – manufacturing in the country will also result in a huge increase in jobs. What is the reason we cannot do this? And I think this has been one of the key goals behind our thinking and the reason for us to set up the IIT Madras Research Park.

What makes the IIT Madras Incubation Cell optimum for deep tech startups?

We actually do things here very differently. We have understood to a reasonable extent what it takes for a youngster to join us and become a successful entrepreneur. In most places, for enabling someone to become a successful entrepreneur, they say that they will provide money, workspace, support, etc.

We take a very different approach. We say yes and no. For an entrepreneur, the most important thing is that he or she must learn to fall, to fail and get up. That is what makes a successful entrepreneur, as opposed to an entrepreneur who has been supported and cushioned in all kinds of manner.

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Yes, we have to provide some cushioning but not so much that the person fails to learn. We provide minimum financial support, some seed money minimally, that also only if we find he or she has taken several steps on their own. Any support from us will depend on how much effort we see. And I think this is something that is somewhat unique.

What are some of the trends and some of the sectors that you see for the future in terms of innovation?

We have a different problem today in the world: climate change. I don't know how long the earth will survive if we keep on doing things in the current manner. And remember it is only the top 10 percent of people who are actually contributing to most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As nations develop, lower-income nations like India or African countries or Southeast Asian countries develop, there'll be even more GHG emissions and the earth will not survive.

So, we have a tough task. We cannot tell those who have low income to… be happy with this for the rest of your life. But at the same time, we have to help them consume in a manner that doesn’t add to GHG emissions. So the key task is to develop technology such that GHG emissions reduce without increasing costs because the people with low income will not be able to buy high-cost items.

You have led this research facility for more than a decade. Where do you want to see the research park before deciding to take a step back?

I plan to retire from the executive role in June 2024 and I don't think the tasks are ever finished. But at some point of time, I personally have to move out of the executive role. I hope to continue to play the role of a mentor because a lot of it is taking youngsters and kind of inspiring them to come, push them to come up with new ideas, push them to do more. But executive roles? No. I'm getting old. And I need to get out.