Innovation is a harbinger of socio-economic development, says Mukherjee

A roundtable discussion on funding for innovations was organized in Rashtrapati Bhavan on the sixth day of the ongoing 'Festival of Innovations' today in association with NABARD, SIDBI and National Innovation Foundation.

The speakers who addressed the roundtable included Nitin Jairam Gadkari,Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Railways, Kalraj Mishra, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance.

Key recommendations emanating from the discussions were presented to President Pranab Mukherjee. The President also launched a national portal for start-up entrepreneurs called "SIDBI STARTUP MITRA" developed by SIDBI on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said innovation is a harbinger of socio-economic development. It facilitates growth and creates job opportunities.

"Innovation holds great promise in uplifting the living standards of people. A novel idea if transformed into a useful product can usher in progress for the society. But the path to convert novelties into new products or services is riddled with challenges. Any new business venture require resources for investing in factors of production like capital, workforce and technology.New-age financing options like angel investors, venture capitalists, crowd funding, seed finance, and 'innovation on technology' funds can meet the special requirements of innovation projects at formative stages," President Mukherjee said.

The President said focused attention by the government, and public and private organizations, has seen several initiatives being launched for the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in India.

"The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is being set up as a platform involving academics, entrepreneurs and researchers to foster a culture of innovation and promote a network of world-class innovation hubs. The Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank (also called MUDRA Bank) has been set up to provide fillip to entrepreneurship in India through the funding of non-corporate small business sector," he added.

The President also said the online platform 'SIDBI-STARTUP-MITRA' will act as a one-stop solution to meet the financing and other needs of early stage and start-up enterprises.

He complimented Department of Financial Services and SIDBI for conceptualizing this national innovation finance programme. He stated that the integration of start-ups with investors, angel funds, mentor funds, and other service providers will help create an inclusive innovation eco-system in the country.