A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed with Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Sirmour and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bilaspur for on-boarding new incubation centres. Director Industries Rakesh Kumar Prajapati signed MoU on behalf of the State Government in presence of the Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan here today.
Sh. Chauhan said that with the objective to strengthen the Startups in the State, the State Government signed MoU with two premier institutions, taking the number of incubation centres to 14 in the state. He said that IIM Sirmour would assist new startups in strategy formulation, understanding the networking and market outreach along with other relevant support. AIIMS would provide assistance to the startups for the healthcare sector.
He said that the Government of Himachal Pradesh was taking necessary steps to set-up incubation centres in order to provide incubation support to startups for enhancing industrialization and generating employment opportunities. The Industries Minister said that the state encourages establishment of incubation centres in existing institutions to promote startups and new units, besides the entrepreneurs can float innovative ideas to be implemented in these premier institutions.
Furthermore, these institutions could send their interns to the industrial units for practical training. He said that the government was constantly encouraging the entrepreneur's skills with necessary support and professional guidance. To promote startups, the state Government has launched a ‘Chief Minister’s Startup/ Innovation Projects/ New Industries scheme’ with an objective to turn the educated youth in the state from job seekers to job creators.
The Industries Minister said that this scheme aims to create employment, provide support to startups so as to encourage their growth. He said that the incubation support was a fundamental component of the startups and in order to promote them, the government will collaborate with organizations to establish incubators in the form of capital or operational expenditure.
It is due to the efforts of the Industries Department that the State was adjudged as the 'Best Performer' in category B states by the Department for Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India on 16th January, 2024, remarked Sh. Chauhan.