Adityanath govt plans Rs 1,000 cr start-up fund in self-employment boost

New start-up policy on anvil with focus on agro, energy sectors

Uttar Pradesh plans to float a Rs 1,000-crore start-up fund to incubate new business ideas and promote self-employment opportunities among youth.

The state government will soon come out with its new start-up policy to give impetus to green ventures in the fields of agriculture, energy, transport, education and tourism.

UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said in Lucknow that the state was taking ‘concrete steps’ to create a conducive ecosystem for start-ups to flourish. “The country’s biggest start-up incubator is being established in Lucknow to encourage startup revolution in UP,” he said addressing a start-up conclave here yesterday.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call at Mathura recently regarding developing an alternative for single use plastic, Sharma exhorted start-ups to take up the challenge and come out with solutions, while promising the government’s support.

On the occasion, he also disbursed prizes worth Rs 7.65 lakh to new ventures. Various start-up pitch-in competitions were organised to promote the culture of such enterprises in UP.

Recently, the state government had decided to set up a Rs 200 crore venture capital fund to promote start-ups in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) space, especially pertaining to indigenous and traditional industries in the state.

The government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) for the proposed fund, which would give priority to MSMEs operating under the aegis of UP’s flagship One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme.

Launched in January 2018, ODOP is aimed at scaling up traditional industries associated with each of the 75 districts in UP. For example, the Yogi Adityanath government has tied up with e-commerce major Amazon to market the state’s indigenous products, while similar partnerships are now proposed with other leading online platforms, including Flipkart and Alibaba, according to UP MSME principal secretary Navneet Sehgal.

While, 25 per cent or Rs 50 crore would be provided by the Adityanath government, the larger share of 75 per cent or Rs 150 crore would be contributed by Sidbi for creating a venture capital fund to handhold and finance start-ups and enterprises.

Sidbi would also function as the venture capital fund manager and facilitate credit flow to MSMEs, start-ups and artisans by coordinating with different microfinance institutions, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and other such integrators.

Meanwhile, the state government had already tied up with commercial banks for providing loans totalling Rs 5,000 crore to MSMEs under ODOP scheme. These loans will be disbursed to entrepreneurs on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2019.

UP is uniquely famous for product specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts, namely, Varanasi (Banarasisilk sari), Bhadohi (carpet), Lucknow (chikan), Kanpur (leather goods), Agra (leather footwear), Aligarh (lock), Moradabad (brassware), Meerut (sports goods), and Saharanpur (wooden products). The website also showcases such authentic merchandises.