The 20th Convocation of PGDM- 2017-19 batch was celebrated on June 2, 2019. Chief Guest, Padma Bhushan Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder Infosys and Chairman of Axilor Ventures awarded Diplomas to 92 students : 70 of Post Graduate Diploma Programme- Business Entrepreneurship (PGDM-BE), 13 of Post Graduate Diploma Programme- Development Studies (PGDM-DS), 2 of Fellow Programme in Management. Also present on the occasion was EDII-President, Shri Rakesh Sharma, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer- IDBI Bank Ltd and the esteemed Board Members of the Institute.

Hon’ble Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan credited Entrepreneurship as the engine of global economic activity. He said, “Entrepreneurship gives rise to start-ups that typically leverage on new technologies and have higher productivity than incumbents. Start-ups are disproportionately responsible for commercializing new innovations, particularly radical innovations that spawn entirely new markets or substantially disrupt existing markets. Start-ups scaling up are usually the leading net job creators. All of these are relevant for us in India currently. We need to improve productivity and create new jobs.”

The Chief Guest also highlighted India’s ability to nurture world class industry transforming start-ups. In his message to the graduating students, he stressed catering to small and rural businesses in India. He said, “I hope some of you will start ventures that are relevant to small and rural businesses in India. He said, “I hope some of you will start ventures that are relevant to small and rural businesses in India, something which EDII has been promoting for decades now. Remember, there are plenty of opportunities to serve the needs of the under-served in India, what some call the ‘next billion users’ in India.”

President Shri Rakesh Sharma, advised the graduating students to keep working hard and adopt an innovative approach in handling their respective enterprises. He inspired them to evaluate sustainability in whatever they decide to do and also focus on development of the country, alongside their own. He motivated the youths by citing examples of how entrepreneurs had made a big difference to the economy of the country.

“Entrepreneurship awareness must permeate into folds of every section of society; and one way of achieving this is by disseminating its advantages through the medium of formal education. EDII understands this well and these graduating students are the testimonies of this phenomenon,” said President Shri. Rakesh Sharma.

On the occasion, Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director, EDII explained how EDII had adopted the new business strategy in keeping with the changing contours. Placing emphasis on entrepreneurship and its trajectory, Dr. Shukla said that it has a sharp inclination towards innovation and knowledge based enterprisesSpeaking about the Institute’s role in promoting new age start-ups and enterprises, Dr. Shukla said, “EDII is striding rapidly and steadily on the path of startups, incubation and innovations. The Institute is doing its bit in making India a front runner in this area by extending all necessary help to startups in its role of a nodal agency for start ups, as appointed by the Govt. of Gujarat.”