Leadership
- Governing Body
- Director General Message
- Former Presidents
- Former Directors
“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 training and education. EDII understands this well its success stories are the testimonies of this phenomenon.”

Nominee
Additional Chief Secretary
Industries & Mines Department
Government of Gujarat
Gandhinagar

Dr. Sunil Shukla
Director General, EDII
Well-groomed and trained entrepreneurs have opportunities galore and immense options to make it big. So for anyone who decides to pursue entrepreneurship in the present times, it would be a rewarding decision. The prospects for first generation entrepreneurs are indeed brilliant. And for this it is important to create awareness about learning entrepreneurship like any other discipline and adopting it as a career. It is important to understand that pursuing entrepreneurship is easy with the environment more conducive today and with support from Government, associations, venture funding and educational institutions.
Today, there is certainly good awareness in people about the advantages of entrepreneurship as a career. The myth that people with a strong financial and business background can set up own enterprises are fast getting replaced by facts that entrepreneurship can be learnt like any other discipline.
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) is the first National Resource Institute in entrepreneurship training, research, education and institution building. It has successfully brought about a change in the way entrepreneurship is perceived and functions in an exclusive space.
What I feel is that the entrepreneurial fervour is experiencing an upsurge, more so; with certain new initiatives in place, such as those of; Make in India, Start Up India, Start Up Village, Smart cities, Swachh Bharat and Digital India. EDII intends to give a boost to the start-up wave by intermediating creatively among stakeholders such as; new age potential entrepreneurs, existing entrepreneurs, incubation centres, and venture capitalists.
My advice to all wannabe entrepreneurs that ‘let your dreams soar and see what others are unable to see. But before taking the plunge, be prepared. See that you have an ethical business mindset, knowledge and competencies of an entrepreneur. EDII is always there for you, so if entrepreneurship is your passion, go for it’.
Former Presidents

Dr. Milind Kamble
2018 – 2019 (Officiating President)

Shri M. K. Jain
2017 – 2018

Shri Kishor Kharat
2015 to 2017

Shri M.S. Raghavan
2013 – 2015

Shri R.M. Malla
2010 – 2013

Shri Yogesh Agarwal
2007 – 2010

Shri V.P. Shetty
2005 – 2007

Shri M. Damodaran
2003 – 2004

Shri P.P. Vora
2001 – 2003

Late Shri S.K. Kapur
2001 (Acting President)

Shri S.K. Chakrabarti
2001 (Acting President)

Shri G.P. Gupta
1998 – 2000

Late Shri S.H. Khan
1993 – 1998

Late Shri S.S. Nadkarni
1985 – 1993

Shri M.R.B. Punja
1983 – 1985
Former Directors

Dr. Dinesh N. Awasthi
2003 – 2015
An Economist with vast experience in entrepreneurship education, research and training.
His areas of interest are policy research, cluster development, sub-sector analysis, social entrepreneurship, rural entrepreneurship and NGOs.

Late Dr. V. G. Patel (Padma Shri)
1983 – 2003
An eminent economist and international figure in the sphere of entrepreneurship, small industry policies and growth management, Dr. Patel had held several key positions in his career.
He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2017 for his contribution to development of entrepreneurship in India.

Dr. Dinesh N. Awasthi
2003 – 2015
An economist, Dr. Awasthi has several research papers and books, besides a number of research studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, to his credit. His areas of specialisation are entrepreneurship, strategic management and fundamentals of social development. Areas of his professional interest include evaluation studies, development and growth of micro, small and medium enterprise (SMEs), cluster development, strategies for poverty alleviation and employment creation and non-government organizations.
Prof. Awasthi was a Member of the Working Group on Small Scale Industries for the XI Five-Year Plan, Government of India; Member of the Working Group on Growth Poles, National Commission on Informal/Unorganised Sector Enterprises, Government of India and National Committee on Small Scale Industries set up by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). He was also Member of the Core Group on Urban Poverty, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, Member of the National Advisory Committee on Incubators, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, etc.

Late Dr. V. G. Patel (Padma Shri)
1983 – 2003
An eminent economist and international figure in the sphere of entrepreneurship, small industry policies and growth management, Dr. Patel had held several key positions in his career. He was the Chief Economic Advisor to Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation; Founder Director of Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Gujarat and Managing Director at Gujarat Industrial & Technical Consultancy Organization Ltd. Dr. Patel’s work towards inclusion of entrepreneurship in the formal education system, sensitization of support system, entrepreneurship research in addition to routing several other developing countries on the trajectory of entrepreneurship has been widely recognised. The Government of India also incorporated the EDP approach as a part of its self employment schemes. The Central Government’s ‘Rojgar Yojana’ incorporated entrepreneurship training, based on work done by Dr. Patel. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2017 for his contribution to development of entrepreneurship in India.
Dr. Patel has authored several books and reports on entrepreneurship and small industries related subjects. His book, ‘The Seven Business Crisis & How to Beat Them’ (reissued as When the Going gets Tough) is a best seller.