Rajasthan To Set Up iStart Innovation School Hub In Bikaner With INR 52 Cr Investment

To foster entrepreneurship and promote startups in the state, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal for establishing the iStart Innovation School Hub in Bikaner at a cost of INR 52.26 Cr.

The hub will be built on the lines of the Rajiv Gandhi Fintech Digital Institute, the Bhamashah Data Centre and the e-Governance Centre Building in Jaipur.

The iStart Innovation School Hub will provide a conducive environment for startups, youth and students of the region, while also creating widespread employment opportunities, the state government said in a release on Friday. 

The project falls under the purview of the Department of Information Technology and Communication, Rajasthan (DoIT&C). Gehlot had announced the establishment of the iStart Innovation School Hub in Bikaner in the 2023-24 budget.

iStart is the flagship incubation programme of the Rajasthan government. It has supported over 3,900 startups across sectors, including agritech, SaaS, healthtech and ecommerce, since 2017. Besides, it has funded more than 400 startups so far.   

As per the government, startups registered with iStart have raised over INR 670 Cr of VC funding and created more than 29,000 jobs in the state. 

In recent years, the Rajasthan government has taken several new initiatives to promote entrepreneurship among youth for job creation.

In March this year, the state government passed a bill to make it easier for small businesses to set up and operate in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (Facilitation of Establishment and Operations) (Amendment) Bill, 2023 has increased the exemption for approvals and inspections for MSMEs to five years from three years earlier.

Last month, iStart Rajasthan also announced a partnership with the Thapar Entrepreneurs Academy (TEA) and launched the iStart Launchpad and a Learning Management System (LMS) to help entrepreneurs. 

Rajasthan was placed among the ‘Aspiring Leaders’ of the Indian startup ecosystem in the Centre’s ‘States’ Startup Ranking 2021’. The new initiatives taken by the Rajasthan government are expected to boost the state’s standing further and increase the number of startups.

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