Odisha targets 1,000 start-ups by 2020

The Odisha Start-up Policy 2016, which targets the creation of 1,000 start-ups by 2020, was unveiled by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Odisha Investors’ Meet here on Friday.

Referring to Odisha as an emerging IT hub of the country Patnaik said: “We have received valuable inputs while finalising the Start-up Policy from our home-grown entrepreneurs — Ritesh Agarwal, founder-CEO of OYO Rooms, and Srikumar Misra, founder-CEO of Milk Mantra Dairy. We wish to emerge among the top three start-up hubs in India by 2020 through strategic partnerships and policy interventions to support start-ups.”

The event witnessed the participation of CXOs from across industry verticals, including Sachin Bansal, founder and Chairman, Flipkart; OYO’s Agarwal; Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group; and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon.

A Start-up Capital fund of up to ₹25 crore will be provided to support the development of soft and hard infrastructure for the start-up ecosystem. The government will participate in private, State-specific funds such as seed/venture capital funds contributing upto 1/4th of the total size. Start-ups which receive seed funding will be given ₹10,000 per month for a year and a reimbursement of ₹1 lakh per year for three years towards free internet, electricity and mentoring services.

Need-based assistance for raw materials/components will be given on a case-to-case basis; annual reimbursements on VAT/CST and patent-registration and publicity assistance of up to ₹5 lakh will be given to start-ups that receive Series A funding.

Banks and other financial institutions will set up dedicated desks for easy funding of start-ups. Academic institutions, R&D incubators and industry houses will get a performance grant of ₹5 lakh for each successful start-up created.

The State government is also encouraging sector-specific incubators. R Chandrashekhar, president, Nasscom, who was present at the event, said Nasscom is in the process of setting an incubator that will encourage entrepreneurs to build solutions to address local problems.

Sachin Bansal said: “Start-ups and technology are the business of the future and the next wave of jobs and development will come from them. We will help Odisha achieve its goal.”. Agarwal said his firm is working with a few government departments in Odisha to set up a training facility to generate more than 10,000 skilled employable graduates in the near future.

An electronics manufacturing cluster will come up in 203 acres within the 730-acre Infovalley (an IT/ITES and ESDM investment region) in Bhubaneshwar, which will provide plug-and-play infrastructure for over 100 units. Bhubaneshwar was the ranked one among 97 other cities in the Centre’s Smart City challenge.

On Friday, a senior government delegation from Odisha met 42 investors from sectors including electronics manufacturing, gems and jewellery, food processing, and apparel.

“Our target is to train 8 lakh skilled young men and women over the next three years to build a ‘Skilled in Orissa’ brand of talent, with an Odisha skill model that can be replicated elsewhere. We are looking at skills from the view of sustainability and high-quality employment and in a way that will blend with human development,” said Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority.

COMMENT NOW