Mirroring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's enthusiasm to promote start-ups and entrepreneurship and, his love for Indians abroad, several states have picked up initiatives in a bid to nurture the youth and reconnect the diaspora with their roots. The Uttar Pradesh government rolled out a red carpet to welcome around 250 members of the Indian diaspora on January 4th, in Agra, as the state's first Pravasi Diwas took off with pomp and fervour.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav addressed the NRIs and PIOs saying the meet was a beginning of a never-ending dialogue between them. Stating that the whole idea behind the UP Pravas Diwas was to connect the diaspora with the state, he said that he wanted to work on a common and meaningful dialogue of the development of the region. “I am overjoyed to see such large numbers of NRIs here and admit that the gathering has exceeded my expectations. We are here not only to welcome you in the Taj city, but also to make you partners as the state endeavours to get its rightful place in the country,” he added. Sixteen eminent people with roots in Uttar Pradesh and now living abroad were given the 'UP Ratna' awards by the chief minister and his wife, Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav, while 13 MoUs were signed at the event.
Meanwhile, a one-of-its-kind programme - Start-up, was launched in Haryana to help the young and capable entrepreneurs of the state. The programme was launched during a roadshow organised in New Delhi on December 22, 2015, in the run to the Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit-2016, to be organised in Gurgaon on March 7 and 8. Four other roadshows are lined up at Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, before the summit. An official spokesperson said that boot camps would be organised with the joint efforts of the state government and Start-Up Accelerator Chamber of Commerce in colleges and universities across the state from January 2016 onwards.
A Start-up torch, lit by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at the show, will be taken across different universities and colleges, other than units associated with the fields of technical, management and industry. The torch will finally reach the venue on March 8.
The Government of Madhya Pradesh has already started preparations for its biennial Global Investors Summit to be held in Indore this year. The GIS, last held in 2014, saw participation by top businessmen like Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Cyrus Mistry, YC Deveshwar and, Gautam Adani. Six-nations including Canada, Australia and South Africa were partner-nations. Already pitching in for this year's vent, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that he would be happy if China makes partner with this year's summit. Pitching, he said the state has investment-friendly schemes, readily available land bank of 25,000 hectares, and availability of basic infrastructure.
