Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 16:
The Odisha government would launch its startup policy during the two-day investors’ conclave in Bengaluru from Aug 25.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today presided over a high-level meeting at secretariat here to review the progress of the conclave.
The state government aims to attract investors to set up their businesses in Odisha. The two-day programme will be organised by state Industries department, CII Karnataka and its Odisha chapter.
According to sources in the CMO, Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to attend the meet on Aug 26 where he would launch the state’s startup policy. Patnaik is slated to hold discussions with the corporate honchos and lure them to invest in Odisha. Leading corporates from the country are expected to participate in it.
Besides, the master plan of Info Valley in Odisha capital would also be unveiled during the event.
An MoU would be signed between Wadhwani Foundation and the state government for skill development and training, sources added.
Further, cultural programmes would be organised in the evening by the state Culture department in association with Odisha Cultural Association (A cultural body set up by Odias residing in Bengaluru) to mark the 80th year of formation of the state.
Entrepreneurs from across the globe, educational institutions, venture capitalists, IT & ITES companies, are scheduled to attend the conclave.
Notably, the state government has formulated a startup policy and expects to attract investments worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore and generate 10 lakh jobs in line with the Vision-2025. The state aims to make the state a manufacturing hub in the eastern India with setting up of industries from sectors like plastics, petrochemicals, healthcare, automobiles and textiles.
For funding startups, a Startup Capital Infrastructure fund with an initial corpus of Rs. 25 crore shall be set up to support development of hard and soft infrastructure for the startup ecosystem in the state such as physical infrastructure for incubators including testing labs, design studio, tool rooms, virtual incubators etc.
Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Upendra Nath Behera, Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan, Secretaries of Industries, Water Resources, IT, Tourism and I&PR departments were present in the review meeting.