BENGALURU: According to the startup policy approved by the state cabinet on September 6, Bihar’s state industrial department recently launched a website––biharstartupyatra.com that supports people planning to set up startups in the state. As a response to the initiative, the government received more than 30 proposals from individuals across the state.  

So far, the state received requests for supporting ideas such as audiovisual editing, pearl-farming and food packaging. S Siddharth, Principal Secretary of the Industries Department revealed that the proposals have come from individuals with +2 and PhD degrees. He further added that the government’s main motive is to encourage entrepreneurs from every level.

According to Siddharth, the first lot of startup support requests will be selected after Chhath. Selected individuals will be offered with a common office space, a mentor and an amount of 10 lakh each as the initial investment to start the business. Furthermore, the state government has also promised to offer an amount of 500 crore as a venture capital under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ‘seven resolves’. Venture capital is a type financing which is offered to small and emerging organizations with high growth potential.

The startup policy also proposes to create a startup trust that houses a committee of bureaucrats and business experts. The committee will be responsible for effectively screening and selecting the best among a vivid range of business ideas.

Revealing further about the government’s initiative, Siddharth says "We are soon going to ask information technology department to hand over its office space at Biscomaun Bhawan to us, so that we could develop an incubation centre for budding entrepreneurs. The idea behind incubation centre is to provide the minimum office infrastructure, including office space, the internet facility and other forms of support."

Currently, there is a functional incubation centre formed at the Bihar Industries Association (BIA) office in Patna. The centre started operating in November 2015 and has managed to enroll five startups; also providing them with the required office space.

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