Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Rajasthan government’s flagship startup policy has created new opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth with a huge potential for growth in the animation and extended reality sector, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said here on Saturday. As many as 66 i-start launchpad nests had also been established in the State, Mr. Sharma said.
Mr. Sharma was addressing the 19th convocation ceremony at Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT). He said a total of 2,028 startups were registered in the State in 2024-25, and the government had provided ₹11 crore to 300 startups from the i-start fund created for supporting the incubation centres.
“We are making efforts to revive startups under the learn, earn and progress (LEAP) programme, and have launched Tech Bee as an early career programme to provide skill development and employment opportunities to the youth immediately after completing their XII grade,” Mr. Sharma said.
Under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme-2024, information technology and IT-enabled service projects were offered three options for asset creation incentives, including 75% reimbursement of State GST for seven years, 20% capital subsidy, or a 1.4% turnover-linked incentive, Mr. Sharma said.
The Chief Minister said the State government had given appointments to about 91,000 employees, while the process for filling up about 1.54 lakh posts was underway at various stages. The Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit, held last year, had resulted in memorandums of understanding worth ₹35 lakh crore, with work already started on MoUs worth ₹7 lakh crore, he said.
Mr. Sharma awarded gold medals to 21 toppers in engineering, architecture, planning, management and science streams at the ceremony, and praised the MNIT for enhancing the State’s reputation through its world-class research.
MNIT Director N.P. Padhy said the institute had improved its National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking this year and secured third position among all NITs in the NIRF research institutions category.
Published – October 12, 2025 12:12 pm IST
