What is even more important is that the industry sees these projects as investment in R&D and is willing to place its bets on these students to come up with more innovative designs than any other designers. The total investment in student projects in the accessory design department of NIFT alone has crossed $1 million this year, since the course began in 1994.``In the first batch, we had only five projects and the investment from companies was as low as Rs 6 lakh,'' says Jatin Bhatt, head of the accessory design department. ``This year, the investment in over Rs 1 crore,'' he says.

Moreover, NIFT, too, has expanded the number of areas in accessory design that the students handle. Fromjust costume jewellery and table ware, other products such as silverware, custom-made gold jewellery, corporate gifts, watches and footwear have been added. ``There is still a lot of scope for expansion with the market widening its range,'' says Bhatt.

The best part of the industry interaction with the students is that many of the projects are translated into real products, which go into production by the time they complete their graduation process. This year, for example, two of the students have worked on a jewellery and corporate gifts project with Carbon, a Bangalore-based designer jewellery company. Many of the jewellery and corporate gifts designed by the two students, Divyendu and Jigme Bhutia, are available at outlets.

Two other students, Gautam Wadhwa and Bhupinder Kharbanda, who worked on footwear design for Lee Cooper Shoes, have also had their designs accepted by the company. ``One of the designs has been sent to France for manufacturing the mould and will be out with the Lee Cooper summerrange next year,'' says Inder Musafir, director of M B Footwear, manufacturers of Lee Cooper shoes in India.

Being a designer himself, Musafir feels that he is basically giving the students a chance to experience more real professional work. ``Initially, the designs are the fantasy of the students and when they go out into the market and survey the scene, they come with more realistic designs that can be translated into mass production,'' says Musafir.

He sees it as an R&D exercise, but does not feel that it is a cheaper alternative to having an in-house R&D department. ``It is an expensive risk that we take with the students, but we have not been disappointed with the output and would like to continue this association with NIFT,'' he says.This function-oriented approach is also one way of assuring most students placements before they graduate. Many students in the fifth batch have already found jobs or are planning to set up their own business. A couple of students, who worked on designing tableware andother home products for a Germany based retailer, Spinnard, have been absorbed by the company.

The other advantage is that by taking up industry-sponsored projects, students get to conceptualise products that will be marketable. Jaico, for example, had the students looking into the rural watch industry and designing watches that would be saleable in rural areas. Jaico has a hold over the rural market in Uttar Pradesh, which is now being threatened by the big players in the industry.

``Here, the students realised that the designs for the urban market would not suit the rural orientation. In rural areas, watches have to be more functional than decorative and should be easily repairable,'' says Bhatt.Using motifs out of traditional Uttar Pradesh designs, the students have created practical yet decorative watches, which can be incorporated into the rural lifestyle.

In a similar attempt, other students worked with bamboo and cane craftspersons from Manipur, sponsored by the Development Commissioner ofHandicrafts, to come up with innovative weaving patterns and accessories that could make their ware more saleable.

But it is not only big names that the students work with. Particularly challenging were assignments like jewellery designs for a Kerala-based jeweller, who caters only to that specific region, and for a Bangalore-based jewellery store, which wants to incorporate new designs in the face of competition from North Indian jewellery stores that have recently opened in the city.

``The ultimate aim is to make the industry realise that design is as important a strategy as finance, marketing or management,'' says Bhatt. With the investments pouring into NIFT, that aim is now almost a reality.