Mohan Majhi Govt Forms Panel To Inquire Into Various Aspects Of StartUp Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Mohan Majhi government has formed a three-member committee headed by Director of Industries to inquire into various aspects of StartUp Odisha.

The other two members are Additional Secretary/ Joint Secretary, Finance Department and Additional Secretary/ Joint Secretary, Public Enterprises Department, an official notification issued by the MSME Department said.

The committee will look into financial grant of startups within and outside the state, fund distribution/grant to different private institutions stating them as incubator, output of project management consultants, contribution of NPS and EPF of project officials and use of office space by MNCs.

It has been asked to submit the report by August 21.

Last month, the government had restricted the financial powers of the Startup Odisha authorities after MSME Minister Gokulananda Mallik visited O-Hub, the state’s maiden centralised incubation centre, amid allegations of irregularities and negligence. This saw a cap of Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore on financial power of executive chairman and board of directors respectively. “The department, which is 100 per cent shareholder of Startup Odisha, however, has the full power for sanctioning and incurring expenditure of any type, including schematic, non-schematic, recurring, non-recurring, revenue and capital,” the notification said.

Startup Odisha was launched in 2016 by the then Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government to support 5,000 startups in the state by 2025.