Chandigarh, 23 January 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
”Spurring Startups in rural India will create huge employment opportunities,” says H E Shri V P Singh Badnore, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab and Administrator UT Chandigarh at CII’s Northern Regional Startup Conclave organized at Chandigarh today.
He also opined that the Startup Culture, Innovation & Technology should necessarily percolate to our villages towards realizing Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.
Shri Badnore further mentioned that Chandigarh can become a model Startup hub, inspiring other cities by incorporating requisite policy changes and by leveraging its existing institutions of national importance and facilitating the industry and academic interface.
Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, CII National Committee on Entrepreneurship & Co-Founder – Infosys & Chairman – Axilor Ventures also addressed the Conclave and said that execution of an idea is key and not merely its conception towards success of a Startup’ Sharing some of the best practices followed by various states, Mr Gopalakrishnan advocated that running a Startup should be included in the education curriculum as already done by Kerala and that all the line departments dealing with Startup eco-system in a state should be under a single Ministry as practiced by Karnataka.
He further added that CII plays a pivotal role in strengthening & supporting new businesses and nurturing a sustainable eco-system for the Startups & budding entrepreneurs of the Northern Region in collaboration with the policy makers. Mr Gopalakrishnan also chalked out a roadmap for the Government and Industry to work upon collaboratively with a key focus on Industry-Academia linkages and Startup elevation policies.
Brigadier P P Singh, VSM, Vice Chairman – Make Indian Army also graced the occasion and threw light on the various opportunities available for Startups to work with the Indian Defence sector. “Procurement of good quality product is mandatory for the Indian Army and we have small to big tickets projects to offer, ranging from inventory, weaponry, tanks, missiles and what not” he added.
Brigadier P P Singh also invited the Startups to team up with the Army and share their innovative solutions to a wide range of requirements as highlighted by them.
Mr J M Balamurugan, Principal Secretary to Governor, Government of Punjab shared that a number of initiatives have been taken by the Chandigarh Administration for creating a conducive environment for the growth of the startups in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. With 30 plus R&D centers in Chandigarh, the Administration will soon launch the Chandigarh Innovation Circle (CIC), a Not-for-Profit organization which will be connecting the Academic institutions, Industries, Administration and the Government on a platform to boost economic and technological growth in the region.
“Around 26 new Startups are added in our country every single day, as per a study by DPIIT,” informed Dr Dinesh Dua, Chairman, CII NR Committee on Entrepreneurship & Startups & CEO, Nectar Lifesciences in his address. He also accorded digitization as a key reason resulting in the growth and multiplication of the Startups in our country. Dr Dua also spoke about encouraging women entrepreneurs as a crucial aspect of Startup ecosystem.
“We have to understand the opportunities and challenges in the Startup ecosystem to vitalize its progress and leverage its full potential in boosting the nation’s GDP and facilitating growth for these enterprises who are significant job creators” – said Mr Sarvjeet Singh Virk, Chairman, CII Chandigarh UT & Managing Director, Finvasia Group during his welcome remarks.
Mr Harish Agarwal, Chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh & Managing Director, Asian Concretes and Cements Pvt. Ltd said “The basic requirement for any Startup to grow is passion and not just funding or money; our entrepreneurs should not give up in case they encounter initial failures and plan to grow in a phase-wise structured manner.” he added.
The event was well attended by over 175 participants from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. In addition to Inaugural Session, the event also had two plenary sessions addressed by renowned experts from various parts of the country on ‘Government Initiatives, International Outreach and Role of Incubators & Accelerators’ and ‘Tapping Multiple Funding Sources for Your Startup: The Art & Science of fund raising for Startups.’
