Orissa to set up venture capital fund for IT firms

BS reports

Taking a leaf out of Karnataka, Orissa is exploring the possibility of setting up a Venture Capital Fund (VCF) for small and medium IT enterprises in the state.

This is in line with plans to set up a National Venture Capital Fund (NVCF) for IT SMEs, which is currently pending with the Planning Commission.

The Karnataka government has already set up a VCF with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with a corpus of Rs 15 crore to promote the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). Known as the country's silicon valley, Karnataka is the first state to accept the NVCF proposal and has become a role model for other states.

Currently, Orissa STPI has a catalogue of 100 registered IT/ITeS companies, of which only five per cent are in the big league and the remaining are IT SMEs. State STPI officials said they were aware of the NVCF formation proposal and are already making efforts to establish a state venture capital fund (SVCF).

With whose money? Why?