Agritech Startups, Look Up! J&K Can Be Your New Hub: Union Min Dr Jitendra Singh Singh inaugurated the three-day 'Kashmir Expo Start-ups for Livelihood' in Srinagar on Wednesday
By Soumya Duggal •
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The union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and other Himalayan states have a huge potential for cultivating agritech startups, given that technology can be used to add value to the products coming out of regions with such immense biodiversity, said science and technology Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Wednesday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day 'Kashmir Expo Start-ups for Livelihood' in Srinagar, Singh outlined agriculture, biomedical engineering and telemedicine, among others, as fast-evolving areas that are worth being the prime focus of startups in J&K. The launch of the first-ever startup expo organised in Kashmir valley was attended by several academic, government and industry stakeholders. Some science popularisation magazines and books in Urdu and Kashmiri by Vigyan Prasar and Central University of Kashmir were also released.
Organized with the support of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in association with National Innovation Foundation-India, the expo will witness J&K's youth displaying their innovative products, technology, and services. It is pertinent to inspire entrepreneurial brains by making the youth aware of the government support available to them based on their talent so that they can generate their own earning opportunities and become job creators, said Dr Singh.
Bamboo grown in the state can be converted to several useful products including incense sticks (aggarbatti), while the shelf life of fruits like apples strawberries can be increased with innovative technologies, he added. "Since the launch of the Startup India initiative by the Prime Minister on 16th January 2016, the Indian ecosystem has grown to become the 3rd largest in the world. The 30 States and UTs with their own dedicated startup policies can go a long way to take the country to new heights," opined Dr Singh.
J&K's startup policy targets incentivising women-led startups and creating entrepreneurial knowledge cells at higher education institutions to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and assist student entrepreneurs, he noted. The union territory can work with the country's various IIMs to enable its entrepreneur's products to reach global markets, added Dr S Chandrasekhar, secretary, DST.
