Punjab to facilitate 1,000 start-ups in 5 yrs: Vijay Singla

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 16

The Punjab Government is committed to provide a conducive environment to the industry and has a vision to facilitate 1,000 start-ups in the next five years. The state government plans to make Punjab the next hub for IT entrepreneurs, said Vijay Inder Singla, Minister for PWD and Information Technology, Punjab, while addressing a gathering at TieCon-2019, a start-up and entrepreneurial event at the Indian School of Business ( ISB ), Mohali, on Saturday.

With the central theme, ‘Start , Grow and Scale’, TiEcon (The Indus Entrepreneurs), Chandigarh Chapter, this year emphasised on ‘building brand Punjab’ and highlighting the tricity as the start-up hub.

Outlining the government’s recent initiatives and plans to give businesses a fertile ground to grow, Singla spoke about entrepreneurs strengthening the future economy of the state. “The state is ready to support industry in clearances. The whole idea is to make government, entrepreneurs and bureaucrats work together,” he said.

Visibly impressed at the range of products and services on display at the expo by around 52 start-ups, Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce, said, “The leadership is willing to do whatever it takes to make the state No. 1 in entrepreneurship,” she added. Speaking at the inaugural session, IS Paul, Director, Drish Shoes Ltd, and a senior TiE member, said, “Chandigarh and Mohali have huge potential for growth, but need to be properly branded. The need of the hour is aggressive planning towards branding these cities as start-up destination. We need to be proactive to fetch more investments in the state, especially for start-ups which form the backbone of the state and focus should be on artificial intelligence, data and data analytics.”

“We need to celebrate the success of entrepreneurs and project the state as incubator for promoting entrepreneurship,” he added.

Sameer Jain, President, TiE, Chandigarh Chapter, said, “There is a need to dwell upon these vital issues to boost the start-up ecosystem in the region, which further results in employment generation.”