Haryana: Agri startups seek dedicated commission
Several startup founders in Haryana have demanded the establishment of a dedicated commission to strengthen the state’s startup and incubation ecosystem, citing operational challenges arising from frequent staff turnover and the lack of long-term institutional support.
Startup founders Nitin Lalit, Virender Bajwa, Parvinder Lohan, Pradeep Singh, Ankit Singh, Vishal Singh and Rajender Punia, who are associated with the Agri-Business Incubation Centre (ABIC) at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), submitted a proposal in this regard to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. The proposal was submitted during the CM’s pre-Budget discussion meeting with farmers and entrepreneurs held at HAU on January 15.
Notably, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, during his visit to Hisar on August 21 on the occasion of World Entrepreneurship Day, had announced the setting up of an Entrepreneurship Commission in Haryana to promote startups and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state. The startup founders said the proposed commission should also address structural issues affecting incubation centres and the long-term sustainability of startups.
The founders said that ABIC-HAU provides comprehensive incubation support under one roof, including technical guidance from university scientists, research and laboratory support, mentoring, business development assistance and financial support in the form of Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India. They stated that this ecosystem has helped them commercialise technologies, generate employment and deliver farmer-centric solutions across Haryana and neighbouring states.
However, the entrepreneurs also raised concerns over structural weaknesses arising from project-based and contractual staffing models. They pointed out that ABIC-HAU was established in 2019 with around Rs 12 crore support from NABARD as a five-year project, under which nearly 10 professionals were engaged on a contractual basis. After the project period ended, most trained professionals moved on to other organisations, leading to coordination gaps and loss of institutional memory.
They added that a similar situation exists at Startup Haryana, where, according to them, around 25 professionals have joined and left over the past five years. Many worked for about a year, gained experience and then moved on to new jobs. While this aided individual career growth, the founders said it adversely affected continuity, mentorship quality and long-term handholding of startups, ultimately hindering ecosystem development.
The entrepreneurs maintained that while ABIC has helped establish and scale several ventures and continues to provide Grant-in-Aid of Rs 25 lakh along with technical assistance and market access, structural issues continue to hamper the long-term sustainability of startups.
