Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Startup Odisha Yatra 2.0’ to scout grassroots innovators and promote entrepreneurship among youth. The initiative will cover over 100 educational institutions in 30 districts over 60 days to provide entrepreneurial exposure to the youth.

PTI reported that the state currently has over 1,300 recognised start-ups, employing 10,000 people. Patnaik pointed out that women entrepreneurs lead 40 per cent of the start-ups.

He added that Startup Odisha Yatra 2.0 would be pivotal in bringing innovative ideas to the forefront. It will also assist the state in achieving its target of facilitating the creation of 5,000 start-ups by 2025. Bootcamps will be organised at various institutions over the next two months to encourage idea generation.  

Last year, Startup Odisha’s task force sanctioned Rs 92.76 lakh of monthly allowance grant, product development and marketing support and need-based assistance to 12 start-ups. This state-wide programme has extended up to 207 financial assistance initiatives to start-ups. It approved the Incubator Application for four incubators—INTEC-IMMT in Bhubaneswar, Krishi Kalinga Innovation Council-OUAT, NRRI-Agribusiness Incubation Centre in Cuttack and DBT-Institute of Life Science in Bhubaneswar. 

Odisha secured the ‘Top Performer’ in the third edition of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) State Startup Ranking 2021. This ranking was developed as an outcome-oriented exercise to achieve large-scale progress across each state and union territory. The third edition of this ranking carried out a detailed assessment of responses across 26 parameters and feedback from various stakeholders.