Sitharaman inaugurates incubation centre at Mallikatte

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today inaugurated a modern incubation centre - the Centre for Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning - for budding entrepreneurs at Mallikatte here.
The centre will help promote Startup India initiative in the country.
This is part of the project 'Startup Coast' under which the minister proposed to establish innovation centres, incubation set-up, tinkering labs and co-working space for startups on the west coast in Karnataka.
Using her Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund, Sitharaman initiated the project when she was commerce and industry minister.
It would provide a complete ecosystem for startups and would support creation of jobs here.

The centre will be able to host up to 70 entrepreneurs. Already 30 seats have been booked.

Speaking at the inauguration, Sitharaman said India had initiated host of steps to boost start-ups and improve the whole ecosystem.
"Exactly a year back, I started on the path to make this region the Startup Coast and in less than a year we have made some great strides. The centre has launched, schools will get tinkering labs and colleges will get Centres of Excellence," she said.
She expressed hope that in the coming years, this region would see healthy growth of start-ups.
"Mangalore and the Dakshin Kannada region have more than 20 colleges offering engineering, medicine and other fields of study. This a fertile ground for talent and we need to nurture it," she said.