Bhubaneswar: Software think-tank National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) would set up a startup warehouse in Odisha that aims to incubate and provide hand-holding support to IT startups in the state.

The state government would provide a 5,000 sq ft space in the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) here to NASSCOM for the startup warehouse, state IT Secretary P K Jena told a news conference here in presence of NASSCOM Chairman C P Gurnani and President R Chandrasekhar.

The NASSCOM has its startup warehouses in cities like Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, New Delhi, Chennai, Noida and Gurugram.

The NASSCOM that held its executive council offsite here in the city also announced to open an office here to catalyze the IT and BPO ecosystem in Odisha. This would be the second office in eastern India after Kolkata, said Gurnani.

The NASSCOM chairman said the 42 delegations, who attended the executive council, would now be the brand ambassadors for Odisha to promote the coastal state as a favoured investment destination.

“The state government has created the right environment for the growth of the industry with effective policies aimed at ease of doing business and we hope this momentum can be sustained through our collaborative efforts in the future,” he added.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who met the executive council members of the IT body, assured them of all support by the state government for all kinds of innovation.

Speaking on the idea of digital inclusion, Naveen said the idea of digital inclusion is a smartphone in the hand of the man on the street.

The Chief Minister further said, “We cannot pat ourselves on the back simply because a daily-wage earning worker has a phone and internet access. We have to take health, education and water to him using the power of technology,” he added.

Source: Times of India

Image Courtesy: Business Standard