Amit Shah pitches industry-linked vertical at NID

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said India’s design sector needed a structure similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL) to connect creative talent with commercial opportunities. Addressing students and faculty after inaugurating the Incubation and Innovation Centre at NID, Shah said the sport became a viable career only after commercial opportunities expanded through the IPL model.“After the IPL, parents now tell children to play cricket because they can build a future from it. In the same way, the commercial potential of design has to be explored fully,” he said.He called for the creation of a separate vertical at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Gandhinagar to bridge the gap between design education and industry requirements.“You have done an excellent job in establishing the incubation and innovation centre. But those who choose this field as a career must be connected with industry requirements and financial opportunities,” he said.Shah the proposed vertical should focus on commercialisation, noting that institutions like NID already have strong design expertise but need mechanisms to connect creativity with market demand.“I think this can only happen if you create a separate vertical for it, because the people here are designers and not experts in commercialisation. NID will have to bring these two together,” Shah said.The home minister also said that design should expand into high-tech sectors such as semiconductors, microchips, automobiles and industrial infrastructure.