Will make Bihar the capital of startups, says Shahnawaz Hussain

State industries ministerSyed Shahnawaz Hussain said the government was committed to improving the ecosystem for startups in Bihar. He hoped that young entrepreneurs fromBiharwill set up ventures in their Home state instead of going to places like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Addressing a function to mark the inauguration of the fourth annual Bihar Startup Conclave organised by Bihar Industries Association (BIA) with the support from industries department at Gyan Bhawan here,Shahnawazsaid an ideation lab would be set up at Udyog Bhawan in the city soon for which a memorandum of understanding has been signed with IIT-Patna.

According to officials, Bihars Rs 500-crore startup policy has been approved. An initial of Rs 2.7 crore was made at the event on Saturday. The industries minister handed over cheques for Rs 8 lakh and Rs 60 lakh to startups which emerged winners in the pitching session on Friday. Devesh Jha andSuman Kumartook first place in the competition, followed by Rashmi Kumari and Sandeep Kumar (second), andSantosh Kumarand Ravindra Sharma (third) for New Innovative Start-Up Ideas.