Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday inaugurated O-hub, a flagship initiative of the state government, to support Start-up formation and subsequent scale-up.
Inaugurating the world class incubation centre, Naveen said now the innovators, mentors, corporate partners, ecosystem enablers and facilitators, all of them will work under one roof, the O-Hub.
O-hub will facilitate 200 start-ups every year in diverse sectors like Healthcare, Renewable Energy, ICT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, Handlooms and handicrafts, Agri-tech and many more.
Expressing happiness over creation of more than 1200 start-ups so far under Odisha Start-up Policy 2016 that have generated employment for 10,000 in the state, the Chief Minister hoped that the state will achieve the goal of 5000 start-ups by 2025. O-hub will be a propellant to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship in this journey, he added.
The state has proposed in the new draft policy 2021 to reach out to the young minds in school by adding entrepreneurship as a part of the school curriculum, the CM announced.
Speaking on the occasion, MSME Minister Dibyashankar Mishra said the incubation hub aims to mobilise Start-up Investments to the tune of Rs 100 crore per year through Venture Capitalists, Angel Networks, HNIs, State and Central Government Departments or Agencies or PSUs.
Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority, Subrato Bagchi said that O-hub is a great platform to celebrate start-ups and provide an investor ecosystem in the state.
Principal Advisor to CM, Asit Tripathy; Principal Secretary, MSME , Satybrata Sahu; Chief Secretary, Suresh Mohapatra and Development Commissioner Pradeep Jena attended.
The Chief Minister also released a coffee table book on Start-up Odisha.
The incubation hub is located in Special Economic Zone, Patia Bhubaneswar and offers 1,50,000 square feet area with state-of-the art facility, plug-n-play infrastructure to support start-up activities within the state.
