The labs shift education from theory to applied learning, providing structured spaces where undergraduates identify real-world social problems, design solutions, and test workable models with mentorship.

This expansion aims to democratize innovation by giving non-engineering students access to structured research infrastructure that was traditionally scarce.

The rollout will be phased, starting with aided colleges and later extending support to unaided institutions to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across diverse student backgrounds.

Innovation Council Labs will be extended from engineering campuses to 1,132 aided arts, commerce, and science colleges in Maharashtra in the first phase.

The initiative aligns with the National Education Policy, promoting multidisciplinary problem-solving and experiential learning across humanities, science, and business rather than limiting innovation to technical fields.

Students will tackle community- and industry-relevant problems, with example projects such as reducing schoolchildren’s mobile use, digital tools for small vendors, and low-cost environmental monitoring like air quality and water testing kits.

Faculty mentors and innovation councils will guide students from idea to prototype and testing, leveraging established ecosystems like IDEA Labs and existing incubation centers in engineering institutions.

The broader goal is to transform colleges into problem-solving hubs where learning is grounded in real-world challenges rather than classroom theory alone.