Odisha seeks 30% fund from Centre for Rs 100 cr VC fund

The state government has asked for 30 per cent funding support from the Centre for its Rs 100 crore venture capital fund proposed for start-ups in the MSME (micro, small & medium enterprises) sector.

The demand was raised by state MSME minister, Jogendra Behera at a recent interactive meeting of state MSME ministers organized by the central MSME ministry.

The Odisha government has decided to float the corpus fund for MSME start-ups in collaboration with Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd (GVFL). This Gujarat government undertaking with 24 years of experience in venture finance, has been roped in as the partner and consultant for creation of the fund. The onus will be on GVFL to take care of the regulatory, legal aspects and other formalities. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed between GVFL and the state MSME department.

The state government will develop a concept paper with support from successful venture capital models in the country. An asset management company (AMC) will be formed with an authorized capital of Rs one crore in which the Odisha government will contribute 51 per cent. The rest 49 per cent will come from GVFL, employees of AMC and others. Apart from funding support for the venture capital fund, Behera has urged the central MSME ministry to extend necessary support for five common facility centres under Micro & Small Enterprise Cluster Development Programme. The minister also demanded the status of ‘Centre of Excellence’ for Institute of Entrepreneurship in Odisha on the line of National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (NI-MSME). In order to boost the coir sector in Odisha, he called for the revival of Regional Coir Training & Design Centre in Bhubaneswar.

To address the infrastructure need in the rural areas, the Union MSME ministry may extend financial support for industrial estates at block and panchayat level, Behera suggested.