Odisha has identified 225 startup firms and 24 incubators in the State,” said MSME Minister Prafulla Samal, inaugurating a seminar on “Fostering Startup Growth with Innovation: Odisha in the Making,” organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Odisha State Council here on Saturday.
Samal said Odisha Startup Policy aims to set up 1,000 startups in the next five years and recently has launched the Startup Odisha Toll-Free helpline 1800-345-7100 and web portal for startups www.startupodisha.gov.in on May 1 aiming at promoting ease of doing business for budding entrepreneurs and creating an ecosystem for startups in the State.
Many of the entrepreneurs of our State have earned big name by setting up their operation in other cities and also abroad. Samal appealed all aspiring entrepreneurs to set up their ventures in the State too.
The Odisha Startup portal is a one-stop platform for the startups, incubators and investors in Odisha for registration and availing benefits under the Odisha Startup Policy, he added.
MSME Department Secretary lN Gupta said, “In Odisha Startup Policy 2016, there are provisions to provide up to Rs 1 crore fund assistance to these incubators. Incubators can also get funds from PSU companies CSR fund.” Gupta called upon the startups, incubators and venture capital funds to come to Odisha.
FICCI Odisha State Council chairman Vivek Pattanayak said optimism plays an important part in entrepreneurship and should encourage startup with innovation.
Odisha is soon going to prepare “Technology and Innovation Roadmap-2035” and the Planning and Convergence Department has constituted the Odisha State Innovation Cell to develop innovation ecosystem in the State and to prepare strategy for introducing innovation, he added. Among others, Bijay Sahoo, RK Panda, Srikumar Misra and Sanjeev Mohanty were present.