With A Toll-Free Helpline And MoU With Invest India, Odisha Gears Up To Promote Entrepreneurship In The State

Earlier this month, the Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik launched the Startup Odisha Toll-Free Helpline 1800-345-7100.

The helpline is aimed for startup stakeholders to have a platform for redressal of their queries related to startups. Odisha Startup Policy related calls are transferred to the Startup India helpline number. Till date, since the launch of the helpline over 400 queries related to Startup Odisha Policy have been reportedly handled.

In order to extend support to the entrepreneurs in the state, the Startup India Learning & Development Module has also been made available in Odiya language.

At the same time, an MoU was signed between Deepak Bagela CEO & MD Invest India and Principal Secretary MSME L.N. Gupta to set up 1,000 startups in Odisha by 2020. As per a report by Indian Express, the MoU will also facilitate networking between Odisha startups and the global startup ecosystem.

The MoU also has a provision for setting up a startup portal, a single platform for the interaction of all stakeholders of the startup ecosystem including the Government. The Startup Odisha portal is to be developed by the NIC with knowledge support from Startup India.

On the sidelines of the MSME Trade Fair, 2017, L.N. Gupta, State Principal Secretary, MSME Department said that the State Level Single Window Committees have approved 251 projects worth INR 661 Cr since April 1, 2015. “In order to create an opportunity for MSMEs to set up downstream units, the State Government is setting up an Aluminium Park at Angul, Plastic Park at Paradeep, Fly Ash Park at Angul and Marine Food Park at Deras, Bhubaneswar. Besides, 54 product based MSME clusters have been identified for development in a phased manner.”

To promote entrepreneurship, an extension of the Startup Seminar was also organised. It was attended by the likes of Subroto Bagchi (Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority), Vikas Bali (MD, Intellicap), Manish Kumar (Entrepreneur, Back to Village), Amit Singh (co-founder, Headstart). Headstart Network is a not-for-profit organisation to promote and form an Indian ecosystem of entrepreneurs, startups, researchers, early adopters, and investors. It will also be opening a chapter in Odisha.

Startup India has also started ecosystem mapping in the state to facilitate the implementation of its policy proposals. Till date, they have identified about 225 startups and over 24 incubators in the state.

The Odisha Startup Policy was launched in August 2016. It was aimed to set up 1,000 startups in the next five years for which the state’s MSMEs were to provide a Seed fund of $3.7 Mn (INR 25 Cr). In August 2016, CM Naveen Patnaik met over 60 companies and received an investment commitments of $13.5 Bn (INR 90,490 Cr) for State investments for improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem.