Odisha Govt signs MoU with Invest India

01 March, Bhubaneswar

The Odisha government Wednesday signed an MoU with Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry with an objective to gain access to best practices in the field of start ups and MSME sector.

Odisha MSME Secretary L N Gupta and Invest India CEO and MD Deepak Bagla signed the MoU in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.MSME Minister Yogendra Behera, Chief Secretary A P Padhi and other senior bureaucrats were present at the MoU signing ceremony.Mr Bagla said the MoU will facilitate knowledge exchange, access to funding and networking between Odisha startups and the global startup ecosystem.

The Invest India will extend knowledge support for development of MSME sector in the state with focus on Food Processing, Agro Processing and spices sector, he said.Mr Bagla said it would create a virtual market hub and propel the growth of start ups.Invest India CEO said ”we are looking forward to working closely and to make the Chief Minister’s vision of 1,000 start ups a reality in the immediate future”.

Replying to a question Mr Gupta said as many as many as 225 start ups and 24 incubators are operational in the state at present. A start up portal will be launched soon.Earlier the chief minister Naveen Patnaik launched the startup Odisha helpline for the benefit of aspiring youths of the state.

Patnaik said the helpline would provide a platform to the youths, incubators and all other stake holders in the stateup eco-system to get easy redressal of their queries relating to policy, fund raising, company incorporation and idea validation.