Startups To Be Goa’s New Backbone: Rohan Khaunte, Goa’s Minister for Revenue, IT, Labour & Employment

Goa, which is most commonly known as a holiday destination, is increasingly seeing solo entrepreneurs and startups budding in the state. Credit it to the work-life balance that the state provides or the sheer abundance of opportunities, Goa is increasingly becoming India’s startup hotbed. To leverage the interest of startups wanting to establish their businesses in Goa, the Government of Goa has taken on the sentiment with complete vigour and is supporting startups in the state with the requisite platforms and products.

The present Goa Government, under Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, has set aside $25 Mn for the promotion of the IT sector in the state for the year 2018-19, which is almost double as compared to the fiscal year gone by. This automatically means more budgets for startups and the IT companies in the state.

To foster innovation and the startup climate in Goa, the Government organised Goa Startup Day, a summit spread over two days on April 27 and 28, 2018. The two-day summit saw a confluence of the key stakeholders of different sectors from the startup ecosystem in India to discuss and debate the way forward for boosting the local ecosystem of Goa and bringing business ideas to the forefront.

Inc42, caught up with Rohan Khaunte, Minister for Revenue, IT & Labour for Goa, to understand the strategic framework for startups in Goa that the government has in mind, the Goa startup policy and the overall aim for The Goa Startup Day.

“Goa has always been a preferred destination for Tourism, we need to create a separate economic backbone and we need to focus on the unemployment in this segment,” emphasised, Rohan Khaunte.

The vision for the state according to the Goa startup Policy is to be in the top 25 destinations in Asia for startups by 2025. With a vision to create a vibrant ecosystem for startups in the state, the various frameworks and policies by the government are designed to support startups in the state to the greatest lengths.

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