Bhubaneswar, Aug 29 (KNN) Around 40 per cent of the startups that are registered in Odisha are being run by women entrepreneurs, a state official said on Saturday.

This number records a higher growth than the set target of 33 per cent by the Naveen Patnaik administration.

"Odisha has more than 1,300 startups, out of which nearly 500 are run by women," Startup Odisha evangelist Sanjukta Badhai said at an event in Bhubaneswar.

While addressing a seminar on growth of women entrepreneurs and their contribution to Odisha's socioeconomic scenario, Badhai said that special funding and capacity-building programmes were introduced to help such entrepreneurs nurture their ideas.

"We have a monthly allowance of Rs 22,000 for promoting women entrepreneurship. A grant of up to Rs 16 lakh is available for supporting the process of product building and taking it to the market," she said.

In recent times, the Odisha government has launched various initiatives under the Startup Odisha for women to help them grow. A Rs 100-crore fund to provide large-scale investment to the startups.

The seminar was held as part of the Propack Odisha, which was organised by the Odisha Association of Small and Medium Enterprises at the Janata Maidan.

More than 40 companies from the packaging and food processing sector participated in the four-day expo. Over 100 SMEs from across Odisha are also taking part in the exhibition, which concluded on Sunday.

The expo aimed at showcasing new business and networking opportunities to the state MSMEs and support the creation of new markets and business channels for exhibitors. (KNN Bureau)