The first government-run co-working space was inaugurated at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Innovation Lab (ABVIL) in Kanke road in Ranchi, Yesterday.
With 24 workstations in total, this is the first such initiative to provide a workspace to the startups from all over Jharkhand in the state capital.
The facility will be made available for operations to 12 startups selected by ABVIL completely free of cost.
Two workstations will be allotted to each startup as per their requirement and they can also exchange ideas and learn about marketing initiatives from the team at ABVIL at the same time.
ABVIL is an initiative by Government of Jharkhand in association with Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad to build a world-class innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the State.
“The startups will be getting a token amount before the election season begins across the country. They have been promised a monthly stipend and they will be receiving the same the next week,” said Vinay Kumar Choubey, secretary of the department of information technology and e-governance of Jharkhand.
The startups selected for incubation by ABVIL are supposed to receive a monthly stipend of Rs 8,500 for each member for up to three members per startup and Rs 10,500 for women members. While 49 such startups have been selected till date, 20 have completed the documentation,” Umesh Prasad Sah, director of information technology in Jharkhand and interim CEO of ABVIL, said.
The community plug and play workspace will be a major step towards development of the concept of community offices in Jharkhand. “As of now, we are providing the space and services free of cost to the startups selected by ABVIL. When the building at for ABVIL Ratu Road is ready, we will also be renting out workstations in community workspaces so that more startups have a chance at accessing affordable workspaces in Jharkhand,” Sah said.
D K Singh, director of Dhanbad-based BIT, Sindri, also welcomed the startups whose ideas have been selected for incubation at ABVIL. “The doors of BIT Sindri is also open for the entrepreneurs who are based in or near Dhanbad as we are also offering our Institute premises for co-working space from April this year. They are welcome to use our resources free of cost to set up their startup ideas into functional business models,” Singh said.
The present entrepreneurs on the occasion also welcomed the move by the department. Hemlal Mahato, a Giridih-based farmer who has started an organic farming-based startup with his fellow villagers said, “Having a corporate presence in the state capital is very crucial to building a market for any startup. The decision to provide us an office space free cost is a huge relief, as we can now have our team members working from Ranchi."
The news above was first published in Times of India