NEN was launched in 2003 through an India-wide selection process to select the Founding Partner Institutions to anchor this network. The five NEN Partners are:

	Birla Institute of Technology and Science - Pilani
	Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay
	Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad
	Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology - Bangalore
	S P Jain Institute of Management and Research - Mumbai