Bhubaneswar: Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Prafulla Samal on May 27 urged aspiring entrepreneurs and non-resident Odias, who have earned big name by setting up their operation in other cities and abroad, to set up their ventures in the State.
Speaking at a conference organised by Odisha State Council of FICCI, he said Odisha Start-up Policy aims to set up 1,000 start-ups in next five years for which the MSME department will provide a seed fund of Rs 25 crore. So far, 225 start-up firms and 24 incubators have been identified, he said.
“MSME Department has signed an MoU with Invest India to set up 1,000 start-ups in Odisha by 2020. Incentives provisioned in the Start-up Policy 2016 would make it extremely lucrative for young entrepreneurs. The State Government has also launched the start-up Odisha toll-free helpline and a web portal for start-up stakeholders to have a platform for redressal of their queries,” Samal said.
In line with ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ initiative, the Minister said several states have launched their start-up policies in the last two years.
“Odisha is the new rising star among them. It has a large network of public and private entrepreneur supporters, accelerators and incubators,” he added.
Secretary of MSME Department L N Gupta said there are provisions in Odisha Start-up Policy to provide up to Rs 1 crore fund assistance to the incubators. Incubators can also get funds from PSU companies under their CSR fund. Besides encouraging the start-ups, incubators and venture capital funds to come to the State, he added.
Among others, Director of IIT-Bhubaneswar Prof R V Rajakumar, MD and CEO of Milk Mantra Srikumar Mishra, Head of FICCI (Odisha) Sanjeev Mohanty and Akanksha Kapoor of Invest India also spoke. Chairman of MSME Panel of FICCI Vivek Pattanayak said Odisha is going to prepare Technology and Innovation Roadmap 2035 soon. The roadmap will be helpful for the State to achieve technological advancement in various sectors. He also suggested that the educational institution and universities can start specific courses on start-up and entrepreneurship development.
Source: The New Indian Express
