Government plans to provide more incentives to women entrepreneurs

The state government will consider reserving Rs 10 crore to encourage women entrepreneurs under the ‘idea to proof-of-concept’ (idea2poc) scheme.

IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the department’s Startup Cell will also give priority to women entrepreneurs by funding up to Rs 50 lakh under the startup policy.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on “Women Startups, IT, BT, Textiles and SSI” as part of a day-long workshop organised for women entrepreneurs by the Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (Cowe) in the city on Wednesday.

Kharge said Karnataka is the first state in India which holds an open house for industries. “From April, one day in a month will be dedicated to women entrepreneurs. As part of the startup policy, the department will help source funds, mentoring, legal help, patents and reimbursement,’’ he said.

The minister said he was ready to provide 20% reservation for women entrepreneurs while setting up startups. The policy at present envisages reaching 20,000 startups.

The department was also encouraging girl students in their education under the Chetana programme. “Earlier, top 500 girls were given tablets and made digitally literate. Now, the government is working on extending this to 50,000 students,’’ he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah officially launched Ubuntu, an all-women entrepreneurs’ online platform. The chief minister laid thrust on gender equality in education, professional opportunities and financial independence.

Industries Minister R V Deshpande pointed out that around 1.4 million IT professionals are working in Bengaluru. This should be looked at as an opportunity and a vision for future growth, especially by women, he said.

Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industries, Ratna Prabha said this is the first time an online platform has been launched. It will soon be expanded to include women entrepreneurs of tier-2 cities of Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Belagavi and Ballari. Ubuntu is a formal group while WeGroup is an informal WhatsApp group of all women entrepreneurs, she said.