Nirmala Sitharaman to give Rs 1.18 crore to Mangaluru startup incubator

Mangaluru, India’s first startup district is ready to get Rs 1.18 crore fund from Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. She will contribute this amount from her Member of Parliament Local Area Development fund.

Sitharaman had proposed declaring Mangaluru as the India’s first startup district. On her initiation, the centre has decided to locate incubators at two reputed institutes in the region under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

During her visit to Mangaluru on Friday, Sitharaman had stated that she, with the help of NITI Ayog, has taken initiatives to set up innovation hubs at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in Mangaluru and at Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial Institute of Technology in Udupi district.

Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nitte University, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka (NIT-K) and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) would extend assistance to the centre.

According to Jeevan Saldanha, President, KCCI, an incubation centre or a co-working space in the city’s central business district is in much demand from start-ups. The KCCI and the district administration have identified a 6,000 sqft area at Mallikatta area here. The proposed centre will have around 70 seats and will accommodate 15-20 start-ups depending upon the number of people employed.

Saldanha further added that the incubation centre will provide start-ups with an IT ecosystem, with mentoring from Nasscom. The KCCI has already held discussions with Nasscom in this regard.

There are more than 150 IT and IT-enabled services firms are situated in and around Mangaluru. The coastal city offers the best air, road, rail, and sea connectivity has well-known professional colleges which attract students from across the country and abroad. And these incubation centres are going to encourage ideas that require technological intervention.

Soon, these incubation centres will become a source of inspiration for startups across the country as StartupIndia, a central government fund for startups, is set to fund more eligible companies in coming years.

Image Credit: TOI