In a move to harness the skills of entrepreneurs, Tamil Nadu as well as Telangana governments would soon set up entrepreneurial development centres in the two states.

The second such facility to come up in Tamil Nadu, a centre at Coimbatore would be set-up at an outlay of Rs. 2 crore, an official release from Chief Minister J Jayalalitha’s Office said.

“I have issued orders to set up Entrepreneurial Development Centre in Information Technology Parks in Tier II cities. This year a similar Centre will be set up in a rented facility in Tidal Park, Coimbatore at a cost of Rs two crore“, the release said.

Jayalalithaa had inaugurated the first facility at Tidal Park in Chennai in March jointly set up with National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). This second facility would have a capacity of 50 seats and NASSCOM will be the knowledge partner.

As of Telangana, 30 institutes of higher learning, 5 schools, 15 industrial training institutes and 2 entrepreneurship development centres would be set up under the National Scheme on Entrepreneurship Development, a senior official said.

A new scheme on entrepreneurship development has been formulated by the Union Ministry of Skill Development to create an enabling ecosystem for entrepreneurship development through entrepreneurship education and training, Telangana State Industries Secretary Arvind Kumar said.

The scheme targets to cover 7.10 lakh students in the country through various project institutes such as institutes of higher learning, schools, industrial training institutes, entrepreneurship development centres and skill development centres in a span of five years (2016-17 to 2020-21). The last date for receipt of applications for empanelment of project institutes is September 26.

Under the scheme, project institutes which have 2,500 sqft space or higher and can allocate at least two faculty/facilitators in the first year and an additional faculty/facilitator from second year onwards are eligible for selection, he said in a statement. The institutes should also have broadband connectivity of at least 100 MBPS and possess necessary audio visual equipment and computers and should enroll on an average minimum of 250 students under the project every year during the first four years.

The Centre will provide financial assistance to the selected institutions to set up infrastructure for delivering the programmes. The institutions will receive a grant of Rs nine lakh for a period of five years plus additional Rs three lakh for infrastructure set up in government institutions. Honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month would be provided for each faculty facilitator and towards costs related to faculty training, the statement added.

Source: Moneycontrol