M Aamir Khan
Srinagar: The stage is all set for the first ever ‘Kashmir Expo’ for local start-ups.
Organized by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), 50 startups will showcase their products in the three-day event starting Wednesday at SKICC.
The event will be inaugurated by Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh with an aim to give a boost to start-up culture in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Tomorrow you will see the innovators from the grass-roots will showcase their products that are already there in the market. Our start-up program is moving towards inclusivity where start-ups are not confined to the metros. Fifty start-ups will showcase their products. College and school students will come to the expo and tomorrow they can become job providers if they have a powerful idea,” said Dr. Vipin Kumar, Director, National Innovation Foundation while addressing a press conference here.
Dr. Anita Gupta, Head, NEB, Department of Science and Technology, GoI, said the expo would explore how J&K can be brought to the forefront as far as start-ups are concerned
“Start-ups are currently driven by young minds and how J&K can come to the forefront of the start-up domain. J&K is a promising place and has the potential to nurture start-ups,” she said.
Gupta further said innovators can come to the event and get inspired by the start-ups on display and also come to know how they can avail the schemes.
“There are 81000 start-ups registered and 18000 are from J&K. India is globally number three (as far as start-ups are concerned). There are policies and schemes in place to support the start-ups – to provide them with funding support, mentoring support, and incubation support – that are actually changing the start-up ecosystem. Our attempt is to reach out to the areas where we do not have much presence and integrate them into the national ecosystem- for that activity, this event will be a great trigger,” she said.
