Guwahati: Assam has been recognized as a ‘Leader’ in Category A states (population over 1 crore) in developing a strong startup ecosystem by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
DPIIT functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
This is steep progress from its previous recognition of being an Emerging Startup Ecosystem, Assam Startup’s Chief Operating Officer Pranjal Konwar said.
The DPIIT has appreciated the state for facilitating the launch of the state-of-the-art incubator, ‘Assam Startup – the Nest’, providing incentives and financial help to women entrepreneurs and conducting a high number of outreach programmes with key ecosystem players, he said.
The incubator has gained special recognition as a Mentorship Champion for building a large mentorship network for startups, Konwar said.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park has been engaged in nurturing the startup ecosystem in the state since September 2018, while the Assam government’s Department of Industries, Commerce and Public Enterprise, has asked the B-School incubator to drive the Assam Startup initiative as a Knowledge Partner.
The states’ startup ranking 2021 was released by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday in New Delhi.
A total of 24 states and 7 Union territories (UTs) participated in the exercise, which ranked them under five categories — best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging startup ecosystems.
The report grades a state based on 26 action points such as funding, mentorship, institutional support and enabling the enablers.
In the Northeast, Meghalaya has been recognised as the Best Performer in Category B (a population under 1 crore), while Arunachal Pradesh has been dubbed as a Leader in the same category.