Policy to support women-led start-ups soon, says MSME Secretary

State govt. taking various initiatives to support start-up ecosystem, he says

Tamil Nadu’s MSME Secretary V. Arun Roy on Thursday said a policy to support women-led start-ups and rural tech start-ups would be unveiled soon.

Addressing entrepreneurs at the Confederation of India Industry (CII) Tamil Nadu Start-up Confluence 2022, he briefed about the various initiatives that the State government has taken in the last few months to provide financial support to start-ups.

“The State has an alternative investment fund registered with SEBI called the Tamil Nadu Emerging Sector Seed Fund where we would invest in MSME and start-ups coming up in emerging sectors. The first 4-5 investments are ready to be made. We are also looking to start a green climate fund which is awaiting registration with SEBI,” Mr. Roy said. He also pointed out that the department has shortlisted entrepreneurs for the SC/ST Fund that was announced by the government and this would be doled out soon.

Noting that Tamil Nadu’s economic performance has been exceptionally good despite several crisis, Mr. Roy said that “we have not done well when it comes to start-ups”. And to correct this, the government in the last few months had taken many steps and extended support to the start-up ecosystem, he said.

Vanitha Venugopal, Chief Business Officer, Tamil Nadu UAV Corporation, elucidated the various opportunities available for drone start-ups. “There is a huge employment opportunity in the drone sector. We will be introducing drone studies for engineering students under the Naan Mudhalvan initiative,” she said.