Dehradun: Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi has directed to give preference to such Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) to be selected under Uttarakhand Venture Fund, through which effective positive impact is seen on the economy of Uttarakhand and employment generation, technology sharing and capital investment are encouraged in the state. CS has clarified that only Alternative Investment Funds running on the theme of Uttarakhand Startup Policy 2023 should be selected for investment. Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi has directed that such Alternative Investment Funds should be given priority which are interested in investing in the focus sectors of the state and emerging technologies .
Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi has directed to encourage startups in the hilly areas of the state under the Uttarakhand Venture Fund of Rs 200 crore. CS has directed to assist in setting up startups related to agriculture, fisheries, horticulture, dairy in the hilly areas. She has directed to help more and more woman self-help groups and women to establish startups through production and processing of local products, especially local millets, under social venture. The Chief Secretary has also directed to encourage startups based on the use of Pirul (pine leaves ). She has also directed to connect the Rural Development Department with this .
Chief Secretary Smt Radha Raturi has given instructions to encourage private sector investment in the state’s startups ecosystem by taking advantage of public funds under the Uttarakhand Venture Fund. She has also given instructions to provide fund or venture debts to startups that benefit the economy of Uttarakhand. The Chief Secretary has given instructions that the youth of Uttarakhand should be encouraged to register their startups.
It is known that IIT Roorkee and IIM Kashipur are the major ecosystem partners in the Uttarakhand Venture Fund of Rs 200 crore. The main objective of the Uttarakhand Venture Fund is to encourage private sector investment in the startups ecosystem of Uttarakhand, encourage the youth of Uttarakhand to register their startups and create positive economic and social impact in Uttarakhand. Under the Uttarakhand Startup Policy 2023, a target has been set to establish the state as a startup hub for all ecosystem players in the next 5 years. The state has a total of 1092 startups, 13 state recognized incubators and more than 200 registered mentors so far. Dehradun district has the highest number of 549 startups and 7 incubators, Haridwar has 200 startups and Udham Singh Nagar has 112 startups. The state of Uttarakhand moved from Aspiring State to Leading State in the SRF 21 ranking in the year 2022 and the state was successful in maintaining its leader rank in the year 2023 after establishing a venture corpus fund of 200 crores and declaring U Hub Innovation Center.
On Thursday, Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi held a meeting regarding the guidelines related to the operation of Uttarakhand Venture Fund at the Secretariat.
Secretary Shri Vinay Shankar Pandey, Additional Secretary Shri Rohit Meena, Shri Manuj Goyal and concerned officials of the Industries Department were present in the meeting.
