To Boost Startup Ecosystem, Nagaland Launches Startup Nagaland Portal

On Friday (August 16), the chief secretary of Nagaland, Temjen Toy launched the Startup India in Nagaland portal. The Nagaland startup portal has been developed to enable startups from the state to register online and apply for recognition under ‘Startup Nagaland’ by logging in to the portal.

The newly launched portal is expected to provide the youth with incentives and programmes available under the state startup policy.

Toy said that it was the right time and the right initiative to introduce the portal by providing the most enabling ecosystem to support and nurture startup entrepreneurs in the State as youth needed mentorship and guidance.

The startup Nagaland portal and startup cell will help unemployed youth get assistance and an environment to start and venture out their own line of business. Principal secretary, Industries and Commerce, Lithrongla G Chishi, said that Startup India in Nagaland would facilitate startups to access the various resources of the startup ecosystem available in the State.

Lithrongla Chishi said it would create an enabling environment to address the aspirations of youth and to engage with all stakeholders of startup ecosystem for strengthening the startups with appropriate incubation and mentoring infrastructure, to develop human capital, to provide fast track statutory support and network of appropriate funding agencies.

In June, the Nagaland government issued a notification pertaining to Nagaland Startup Policy 2019. The policy aims to create a conducive atmosphere and opportunity for local entrepreneurs. While the policy aims to house at least 500 startups in the state in the next five years, it also proposes to set up a Nagaland Innovation Fund (NIF) in partnership with national and international VCs.

According to the policy, shortlisted startups shall be eligible for annual reimbursement of state GST paid in sales of goods for a period of three years up to a maximum of INR 5 lakh per startup per year.

Earlier in February 2018, the state concluded its first DPIIT-led State Startup Yatra. As the government works towards building startup ecosystem in the Northeast, recently, the Meghalaya Startup Policy 2018 was also approved. It aims to help budding entrepreneurs and create employment opportunities.

The vision of the state with the startup policy is to “emerge as one of the leading “Startup Hubs” in India by 2023 through strategic partnerships, conducive ecosystem, investment and policy interventions.”

According to the latest statistics available with Startup India, 24 Indian states have introduced a startup policy which includes Tamil Nadu, Karnataka among others. Individual states have also been strengthening their startup ecosystem through incubators to boost their positions in the DPIIT’s state startup ranking framework for 2019, which investors look at closely when seeking startups to invest in.