BHUBANESWAR: Amid allegations of irregularities and negligence towards Odisha-based startups, the government has formed a committee to look into different aspects of the Startup Odisha initiative including financial grants extended to different ventures and use of space by multi-national companies (MNCs) that have set up their offices in the state.
The three-member panel, headed by the director of Industries as the chairman, will examine all the details in next two weeks and submit its report to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department by August 21. The additional secretary, Finance and additional secretary/joint secretary, Public Enterprises are the other members of the panel.
As per a notification issued by the MSME department, the committee will look into the financial grant extended to startups in and outside Odisha. It will also study the fund distribution pattern among different private institutions that have been recognised as incubators.
The department has also asked the committee to examine the use of space by different MNCs that have opened their offices in the state. Further, the panel will examine the output of project management consultants engaged and contribution of NPS and EPF of the officials concerned.
Sources said the move will let the government know about the financial support received by the startups and incubators in Odisha. Besides, it will help in finding the genuineness of startups and incubators and whether transparency is being maintained in the startup ecosystem and their funding.
Following allegations of irregularities, the state government had put curbs on the financial powers of Startup Odisha in July this year. After MSME Minister Gokulananda Mallik visited O-Hub, the state’s maiden centralised incubation centre, last month, the department issued a notification stating that the financial power of executive chairman of Startup Odisha was limited to Rs 1 crore and that of board of directors to Rs 10 crore.
The department, which is 100 per cent shareholder of Startup Odisha, has the full power to sanction funds and incur expenditure of any type, including schematic, non-schematic, recurring, non-recurring, revenue and capital. The department has also scrapped all circulars and guidelines issued by the previous BJD government relating to the delegation of financial powers to Startup Odisha.
The Startup Odisha initiative was launched in 2016 to support at least 5,000 startups in the state by 2025.