Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) [India], August 20 : Giving another significant push to encourage indigenous start-ups, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday announced to expand the Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park (APIIP) premises to accommodate more entrepreneurs from the present 50 per year and enhance the ambit of the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Development Program (APEDP).
APIIP was established in August 2020 under the Department of Planning, Investment & Finance as the state's marquee incubator for the Arunachal Pradesh Start-Up Policy.
It organises annual start-up challenges to identify potential entrepreneurs. Besides providing seed money, it offers 9 months of incubation and pre-incubation programmes to support selected entrepreneurs to attain commercial success.
"In just four years, we have supported 106 startups across three cohorts, providing more than Rs 4.5 crore in seed funding, with an inspiring 38 per cent of them being women-led enterprises. These startups represent the true diversity of Arunachal Pradesh, like agriculture, handicrafts, IT, e-commerce, and tourism," Khandu observed.
He hailed APIIP for its historic step this year to become the first state in India to adopt Artificial Intelligence for shortlisting startup applications.
Fifty bright new startups were selected under this process.
Khandu, however, felt that selecting only 50 startups per year is not enough. Therefore, he suggested that the premises of the APIIP building be expanded and assured government support, either by renting a readily available existing building or by constructing a new building.
Khandu, along with Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, gave away the graduation certificates to Cohort 3.0 and prize money to Cohort 4.0 startups.
Meanwhile, APIIP signed MoUs with 7 educational institutions for mentorship programmes for new startups.
The Chief Minister termed it as another milestone and informed that soon, startup cells will be set up within these institutions, nurturing student innovations and ensuring that no good idea is left unsupported.
The institutions include Arunachal Pradesh University, Pasighat; Arunachal University of Studies, Namsai; Dorjee Khandu Govt College, Tawang; Dera Natung Govt College, Itanagar; NERIST, Nirjuli; NIT, Jote; and Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh.
Khandu acknowledged the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose call for a Viksit Bharat @2047 has inspired the state government to take these innovative initiatives.
"His (PM Modi's) Startup India mission has transformed India's entrepreneurial landscape, from garages to global IPOs, from small towns to big tech hubs. In Arunachal Pradesh, every road built, every enterprise supported, every dream encouraged, is a step towards Viksit Arunachal," he said.
To further empower youths to become successful entrepreneurs, Khandu informed that the government has launched YES Arunachal, Youth Empowerment Sphere, a one-stop platform for all government schemes.
He expressed optimism that APIIP will make this initiative a grand success as well.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that the Investment cell in the department of Planning, Investment & Finance cannot remain a mere 'cell' anymore.
He suggested that the Investment Cell be upgraded to a directorate so that it can independently explore ways and means to invest in budding entrepreneurs and their innovative startups.
Several cabinet ministers, the Chief Secretary, the Commissioner, representatives of Start-Up India, educational institutions, and mentors from IIT Delhi and IIM Shillong were also present on the occasion.