The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for setting up Punjab Innovation Mission and Punjab Innovation Fund to give further impetus to the start-up ecosystem in the state.
The Punjab Innovation Fund of Rs 150 crore is proposed to be set up to invest in early-stage start-ups in the state.
The government”s participation in this fund will be a maximum of 10 per cent of the corpus, which is Rs 15 crore, a government statement said here.
This fund shall be managed by an asset management company, comprising investors of global repute, and the first chairperson of the mission and the fund would be Clix Capital chairman and Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin, it said.
Bhasin told the virtual cabinet meeting that he will raise the remaining Rs 135 crore investment amount from Punjabi businesses and investors, the diaspora as well as public and private financial institutions, the statement said.
The Punjab Innovation Mission would go a long way in developing a vibrant innovative ecosystem for entrepreneurship by leveraging capital, policy and technology through collaboration with investors, industry, government, academia and start-ups, an official spokesperson said after the virtual cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
The Mission will focus on some thrust sectors like agri-tech, food processing, healthcare, pharma, bio-technology, life-sciences, gaming and sports, among others.
The government would support the operation of Punjab Innovation Mission and Punjab Innovation Fund by providing for operational expenditure for the first three years, amounting to Rs 10 crore. The Mission would be set up in Mohali.
In order to encourage participation of private individuals in Punjab Innovation Fund, the state government has decided to cap its return at 10 per cent.
Any return over and above 10 per cent on government”s contribution will be ploughed back into Punjab Innovation Fund, and will be used to meet the operational expenses of the Fund, the statement said.
The cabinet also approved establishment of a university campus by Amity Education Group in Mohali”s IT city, thus paving the way for development of the area as a major educational hub.
The cabinet gave its approval to the draft of ”The Amity University Ordinance 2020”, and authorised the chief minister to approve the final draft prepared by the Legal Remembrancer, without placing it again before the cabinet.
The self-financed ”Amity University Punjab”, being established as a research and innovation driven university on a 40 acre state-of-the-art campus, will be developed in Mohali with an investment of Rs 664.32 crore over five years, the official spokesperson said.
The university will become functional from next academic year, with its first session set to commence in June-July 2021. PTI CHS VSD RVK
Source: Punjab to set up innovation mission, fund to promote start-ups
