Rs150 cr innovation fund for startups

Chandigarh, November 2

Punjab will set up Rs 150 crore Punjab Innovation Fund for investment in early-stage startups in the state.

The Council of Ministers today cleared setting up the fund that would have government’s participation up to a maximum of 10 per cent of the corpus, i.e. Rs 15 crore. The fund shall be managed by an asset management company, comprising investors of global repute, and the first chairperson of the mission and the fund would be Clix Capital chairman and Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin. Bhasin told the virtual Cabinet meeting that he would raise the remaining Rs 135 crore investment amount from Punjabi businessmen, investors, diaspora as well as public and private financial institutions.

The establishment of ‘Punjab Innovation Mission and Punjab Innovation Fund’ was one of the key recommendations of the Group of Experts to develop a medium-term and long-term post-Covid economic strategy for Punjab. — TNS