Panaji, Sep 3 : Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Today said that the state government was ready to help young minds for their startup ideas and business plan.
Speaking on the concluding day of Antha Prerna 2021, a Startup Conclave and Entrepreneurship Summit hosted by the Startup Promotion Cell, Government of Goa, in collaboration with AIC-GIM (Atal Incubation Centre- Goa Institute of Management) and Info Tech Corporation of Goa Limited, he said Goa was venturing to the much needed innovation oriented future.
Goa startup conclave and Entrepreneurship Summit had been organized to bring together all the stakeholders from the government, industry experts, incubators, investors as emerging startup hubs, he said.
”Goa is a great place for startups to emerge from all the sectors like Information Technology, Tourism, Hospitality, Agriculture, Dairy, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Mining, Art, Culture, Designing and Shipbuilding. The conclave has provided a much needed innovation future in Goa. Government is ready to empower and help young minds in pursuing their ideas and startup plans. The event will really help Goa to emerge as a startup hub”, the Chief Minister said.
‘New startup policy’ will definitely benefit stakeholders of the startup ecosystem in Goa, he added.
Chief Election Commissioner Kunal asked the startups to help Election Commission with new ideas to communicate voters, ethical voting, and participation of citizens. He also suggested startups to make into the electricity transmission field.
Earlier, Ashank Desai, Founder of Mastek and Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education, presented their views on the startup ecosystem in Goa. Mr Pai said being a small state Goa could become a role model for the industry and government might start 5G connectivity service in the state that would boost Goa’s infrastructure.
Panel Discussion from Indian Angel Network, Delhivery and other various startups also took place during the summit.
More than 50 startups, 15 investors and students from various colleges across the state participated in the event. Goa Startup Conclave Entrepreneurship Summit “Anth Prerana” was organized by the Startup Promotion Cell in Collaboration with Goa Institute of Management, Niti Aayog and Atal Innovation Mission.
The overall framework of Goa Startup policy targets to make Goa one of the most preferred start-up destination of India, and make it feature in the top 25 start-up destinations in Asia by 2025. The policy aims to make Goa an aspirational geographical and human resources base for high value start-ups, and to invite the best entrepreneurial minds to make Goa their professional base, and thereby build a robust start-up eco-system in the state . The policy also envisages to create at least 100 successful start-ups in Goa in the next 5 years, targeting generation of employment for at least 5000 Goans.
Earlier, this year the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which reports to the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has picked Margao-based Forum for Innovation Incubation Research & Entrepreneurship (FiiRE) as one of the two incubators for the Startup India Seed Fund scheme.
Under the Startup India initiative, eligible companies can get recognized as Startups by DPIIT, in order to access a host of tax benefits, easier compliance, IPR fast-tracking and more.(UNI)