BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday launched a new campaign, Startup India-Odisha Yatra to scout innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Launching the campaign from the state secretariat here, the chief minister said that the yatra van will travel to 60 educational institutions across 16 districts of the state. It will cover educational institutions in Khorda, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada and Ganjam districts. "We are fast moving towards our mission of opening 1,000 startups in the state by 2020," he said.
Selected ideas will be put to three days intensive acceleration programme, the chief minister said and added the best 50 innovators will be provided incubation and mentorship support to convert their ideas into startups. He expressed happiness over the fact that during the last eight months, 175 Startups have been registered with the Startup Odisha initiative.
The chief minister said ten boot camps will be organised during the period at Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, Government Engineering College, Keonjhar, KIIT, Bhubaneswar, NIT, Rourkela, Vikram Dev College, Jeypore, Government Engineering College in Kalahandi, National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), Berhampur, and Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute of Odisha (BPFTIO), Cuttack, where aspiring entrepreneurs will get a chance to present their ideas and seek a backing from investors. The winners of the boot camps will get cash prizes, legal consultation, advisory services and mentorship support, he said.
Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Prafulla Samal said the main objective of the yatra is to create awareness about the startup eco-system in Tier-II and Tier-III towns and encourage the aspiring entrepreneurs and youths to set up their ventures in the state. He said the yatra will be a month long and conclude in the capital city.
Additional chief secretary, MSME department, LN Gupta said startup clubs will be formed at the educational institutes as part of the yatra. The clubs will function under the supervision of a professor-in-charge with at least 3-4 volunteers. During yatra 500 innovative ideas are likely to be pitched out of which the best 50 will be picked up for mentoring and support, he said.