Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi government has cleared the establishment of a business accelerator/incubation centre in Maharashtra in association with the New York-based Cornell University.
The state government will soon sign a MoU with the Cornell University for three academic years on an experimental basis to train 60 trainees annually.
The government’s annual outgo will be Rs 7 crore of which Rs 5 crore will be spent by the State-run Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation; the balance will be shared equitably by the department of tribal affairs and the department of social justice.
The State government will subsequently enter into a Master Service Agreement with the Cornell University and with XED (Asia Partner of Cornell) for the Service Agreement. The state government has issued a notification on March 6 in this regard.
The government’s move is in line with the State Industrial Policy released in March last year and the State Innovative Start Up Policy and guidelines issued in 2018. The aim is to foster the start-up ecosystem and enable entrepreneurs to succeed in their pursuits.
A State Industries Department officer told the FPJ: ‘‘The Law and Judiciary Department has cleared the MoU to be signed with Cornell University. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has also given an in-principle approval.
As far as the selection of 60 trainees is concerned, it will be done with utmost transparency. The Industries Commissioner will supervise the selection process.’’ He informed that the government hopes that training in the proposed incubation centre will help them enter the start-up business.
Under the new policy, the government will work in tandem with industry, industry associations and academic institutions towards creating world-class infrastructure facilities for start-ups.
For this, it is imperative to nurture innovation and lateral thinking at both school and college level. The government will provide financial assistance and counselling to entrepreneurs from open category and also those from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to enter into start up business.
