Our Correspondent
Imphal, Nov. 12 (EMN): Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched venture fund for Manipur Startup Scheme 2.0 in collaboration with North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) during a startup workshop in Imphal on Saturday.
The workshop was jointly organised by the department of Planning and the department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade; the inaugural function was attended by Chairman and Managing Director (NEDFi) PVSLN Murty, Chief Secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretaries MH Khan and V Vumlunmang, Director (Planning) N Kulkarani Devi and others.
Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop, Biren Singh maintained that his government’s aim is to provide a source of earning to every household of the state and as such, the government had taken up various schemes and initiatives to give direct or indirect employment to at least a member of each family.
Biren Singh said since 2017 around 6000 startups had been given financial assistance under the StartUp Scheme. Investment made by NEDFi had also made it possible for many startups to expand its operation, he added.
Mentioning that youths of Manipur have lots of talents, Biren Singh informed that the corpus fund set aside for the Manipur Startup Scheme had been increased from INR 30 crore to INR100 crore and appealed to the youths to take benefit of the scheme. He expressed hope that the state would achieve the goal of becoming the best state.
Stating that the Startup Scheme has been giving avenues to turn the youths from job seekers to job creators, he informed that INR 10 crore each for Imphal West, Imphal East and Churachandpur districts had already been sanctioned for setting up Youth Skill Centre. INR 5 crore each had also been sanctioned for Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel districts. He also expressed the need for the youths to get expertise in the IT sector as the world is advancing rapidly with the coming of 5G service.
In his speech, Chairman and Managing Director (NEDFi) PVSLN Murty said the launching of the first ever Venture Capital for Startup, to encourage the youths to come up with viable propositions, would be memorable in the history of Manipur.
During the day’s event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Manipur government and NEDFi. The Chief Minister also distributed prizes to the winners of Techstar Startup Weekend organised by MIT.