Odisha secures “Top Performer” position in DPIIT State Startup Rankings 2022

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s unwavering commitment to building a thriving startup ecosystem is underscored by its impressive achievement as the “Top Performer” in the DPIIT State Startup Ranking 2022.

This accolade was unveiled by Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles during a distinguished felicitation ceremony held on January 16, 2024, in New Delhi.

The 4th edition of the State Startup Ranking, conducted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), aimed to fortify the collaborative efforts of States and Union Territories (UTs) in fostering comprehensive and vibrant startup ecosystems. The State Startup Ranking Framework 2022 was meticulously crafted as a robust and results-driven initiative, intending to catalyse significant advancements in every State and UT. The evaluation process involved a thorough assessment of responses across various parameters.

A total of 25 action points were used to map a combination of absolute, relative, and feedback-based grading in order to give a comprehensive picture of the state’s or support UT’s distinctive startup environment.

The framework encouraged 31 states and union territories to work towards reducing regulations for the expansion of startups and strengthening support for the startup ecosystem. This exercise having launched in 2018, awarded Odisha for being the “Top Performer” for its support to the Startup Ecosystem in 2019 and in State Startup Ranking-2021, Odisha took a leap yet again to be accorded with the Top Performer position for instituting inclusive and holistic policies and schemes to develop entrepreneurs across every corner of the State. Now in 2022 Odisha has retained its position of ‘Top Performers’ which is a testament to the state’s progressive initiatives for empowering the young talent who aspire to become entrepreneurs.

Dr. Omkar Rai, Executive Chairman, Startup Odisha said, “Odisha’s retention of the ‘Top Performer’ status in the DPIIT State Startup Rankings 2022 is a testament to our unwavering commitment. Under the visionary guidance of Naveen Patnaik, we are driven to not just maintain but elevate the capabilities of our startup ecosystem. Odisha is wholeheartedly dedicated to creating a conducive environment with a new startup policy which is under consideration, aligning with global best practices, focusing on ESG factors, and promoting women’s entrepreneurship. Our goal is to inspire and support an increasing number of entrepreneurs on their journey”

Startup Odisha has nurtured over 1,800 start-ups across agritech, IT, artificial intelligence, healthcare, fintech, and biotechnology sectors out of which 42% are women led startups. Startup Odisha is on its way foster at least 5,000 startups by 2025. The state hosts 27 incubators, and among them is O-Hub, the Government of Odisha’s incubator, featuring an expansive four lakh sq ft space—one of the largest incubators in the entire country. At present, there are 75 active Entrepreneurship Cells (E-cells) and 93 incubates. These numbers are only set to grow in the years to come.