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Nirmala Sitharaman – who, as a Union Minister of State for Commerce, had written to members of parliaments (MPs) to set up start-up incubation centres in their respective constituencies – has done that on her own in Mangaluru.
She has allocated Rs 1.5 crore from her MPLAD (Member of Parliament's Local Area Development) scheme for the development of a start-up incubation centre called the Centre for Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning (CEOL) in Mangaluru. She represents Karnataka as an MP in the Rajya Sabha.
Launching the centre in Mangaluru on Friday, she said Mangaluru and other cities and towns in coastal districts of Karnataka have around 20 colleges offering engineering, medicine and other fields of study. Terming the region as a fertile ground for talent, she said there is a need to nurture the talent.
She said SiliconValley, which is also on the West Coast of the US, had many suburbs and cities and educational institutions similar to Mangaluru region. In Silicon Valley people were enterprising and determined. People of Mangaluru region are equally ambitious and determined, she said.
Stating that CEOL is a symbol of New India, she said she wanted something for a New India, to realise the aspiration and dreams of the youth. That is when she came up with the idea of an incubation centre in Mangaluru from her MPLAD funds.
The incubation centre can accommodate around 60 people. Around 30 seats were already booked before the official launch. Sitharaman said the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner has promised to add another 40 seats to the existing capacity if more show interest to set up their startups here.
Along with place to work, CEOL will also do hand-holding activities. She said she has suggested that the CEOL conduct at least three activities every month in this regard. First, is to bring in venture capital and angel funds to interact with the start-ups at the centre. After interacting with the start-ups, they can fund them for their activities.
Second, is to bring in industries to the centre. Start-ups can help find solutions to the problems of the industries in the region. The third is to bring in mentors, who are specialist in each every area including agriculture, engineering, healthcare, to the CEOL. Professionals who excelled in their own areas should come here and sit with that particular start-up, and see how that particular idea is fine-tuned so that it has a purpose in the commercial world.
These three different things would happen here on a monthly basis, she said.
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