From AVGC Policy To Skilling: Rajasthan Budget 2024 Doubles Down Focus On Youth, Startups

The Rajasthan government, in the state’s Budget for 2024-25, announced a range of youth-centric policies and initiatives aimed at upskilling the youth, offering job opportunities and supporting a vibrant environment for entrepreneurship in the state. 

The Budget aligns with the state’s ongoing efforts to foster entrepreneurship and introduces several policies that complement the iStart initiative — Rajasthan’s flagship programme launched in 2017 to support startups through funding, mentoring and incubation. To date, iStart has supported over 4,600 startups, provided INR 901 Cr in funding and created more than 32K jobs.

A key highlight of the Budget is the launch of the Atal Entrepreneurship Programme, aimed at empowering aspiring entrepreneurs by providing valuable mentorship from successful CXOs and offering access to funding opportunities of up to INR 10 Cr through the iStart Fund. It also proposes a dedicated INR 100 Cr ‘Fund of Funds’ to offer financial assistance to startups through equity funding. 

Further, to simplify government procurement, the Budget allocates a corpus fund of INR 25 Cr under the iStart Fund. This initiative is already showing positive results on the e-bazaar, according to a state government representative. As of today, 371 startups have registered as iStart sellers, leading to 72 work orders with an estimated total cost of INR 11.85 Cr. Additionally, the option of directly assigning work to startups through subcontracting will be provided, the Budget read. 

The state government seeks to give youth a positive push by placing them at the forefront of all initiatives. Further, the state representative noted these youth-centric initiatives have been catalysed by Rajvardhan Rathore, the state minister of information technology & communications.

Fostering A Culture Of Innovation

To nurture young talent in cutting-edge technologies, the government has announced plans to establish Atal Innovation Studios and Accelerators in key cities such as Jaipur, Bharatpur, Bikaner and Udaipur. These centres will focus on sectors like coding, robotics and VFX. To support this initiative, the government has allocated INR 1,000 Cr to foster a vibrant innovation ecosystem.

Further, the government has also announced the Agriculture Accelerator Mission to empower and support startups in the agritech sector — a sunrise sector in India’s startup ecosystem. Additionally, the budget unveiled the launch of the AVGC-XR Policy (Animation, Visual Effects,Gaming, Comics-Extended Reality Policy) to incentivise innovation and create approximately 50,000 jobs in the creative and technology sectors over the next five years.

Recognising the immense potential for innovation among the state’s youth, but acknowledging the need to bridge the gap in startup knowledge, the Budget introduces the Learn, Earn & Progress Programme (LEAP) within iStart to enhance the skills of both startup founders and aspiring young individuals. An allocation of INR 25 Cr has been proposed for this endeavour.

Education, Skilling & Job Opportunities

With a focus on driving innovation and entrepreneurship, the government announced the launch of the ‘Business Innovation Programme’ for schools and colleges to equip students with valuable business acumen and nurture an entrepreneurial mindset from a young age. The programme is expected to benefit over 1 Lakh students and a corpus of INR 20 Cr has been allocated for this.

To further guide career paths, the state government will implement apprenticeship/internship programs and utilise AI-based career counselling — a step towards merging technology with real-world application.

The Budget announcements are in line with Rajasthan’s focus on promoting innovation and skill development. Beyond its rich cultural heritage, Rajasthan has established itself as a state where education and entrepreneurship have become focus areas to enable economic growth. 

In January 2024, Rajasthan earned recognition as a ‘top-performing state’ in the DPIIT’s ‘States’ Startup Ranking 2022’. 

As per an Inc42 report, there are over 3,700 DPIIT-registered startups in the state and over 45 accelerators and incubators. The new Budget, with its focus on technology and innovation, is all set to further provide a push to the entrepreneurial landscape of the state.