Odisha beats national average in startup recognition

Odisha has surged in its startup initiative, with around 20 ventures getting recognized by the state government each month which is more than the national average, a government official has said.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Micro Small & Medium Enterprises LN Gupta said this at the Startup Council Meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary AP Padhi yesterday.

Padhi, in the meeting, gave nod to three new nodal agencies, financial assistance for two new incubators and need-based assistance for two new startups.

Approving the proposals, Padhi directed the department to have close need-based mentoring of the startups so as to make them successful entrepreneurs and producers. He advised the department to promote employment intensive startups in Odisha.

Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan advised the department to organize a startup conclave along with 'Make in Odisha' conclave in November this year.

Approvals were also given to proposals for registering three new institutions as Nodal Centers for the startups.

These are Institute of Hotel Management, Bhubaneswar, Sri Sri University, Cuttack and NIST Berhampur.

The proposal for providing financial assistance to Technology Business Incubator in NIIT, Rourkela and Technology Business Incubator in KIIT, Bhubaneswar were also approved in the meeting.

Need-based assistance was approved for Ordunio Labs for carrying out its innovation of embedded Sim. The innovative ideas of Coastkings Pvt Ltd for seafood processing and packaging was also accorded approval for need based assistance.

Review of the activities taken so far revealed that in Odisha, the Startup Initiative has registered around 233 ventures across 39 sectors within one year with a registration rate of around 20 per month.

These units are presently providing employment to around 2,000 people.

Gupta said: "The rate of registration of startups in Odisha is higher than the national average.

Sources say, the national average is around 17 to 18 units per month. Around 30 units in Odisha have been provided various benefits like monthly allowance, product development assistance, need-based assistance, reimbursement of expenses and one time matching capital grant, he said.

Presently, seven recognized incubators are operating for stratups in the state. These Incubators are in IIT, Bhubaneswar, NIIT, Rourkela, Institute of mineral and Mining Technology, Bhubaneswar, Software Park of India, Bhubaneswar, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, NIFT, Bhubaneswar, KIIT Technology Business Incubator, Bhubaneswar, Centurion, Bhubaneswar and Xavier University, Jatani.

Around 4 lakh sq ft have been made available for the startups in these incubators, Gupta said.(PTI).