January 03, 2026 12:48 am (IST)
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President Mukherjee says innovation is a harbinger of socio-economic development
New Delhi, Mar 17 (IBNS) President Pranab Mukherjee, while addressing the round-table conference on Thursday, at the Festival of Innovations being held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, said innovation is a harbinger of socio-economic development.
The ongoing festival has been organised in association with NABARD, SIDBI and National Innovation Foundation.
Other speakers at the round-table included Nitin Jairam Gadkari,Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping; Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Railways; Kalraj Mishra, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance.
Key recommendations emanating from the discussions were presented to President Pranab Mukherjee.
The President also launched a national portal for start-up entrepreneurs called SIDBI STARTUP MITRA developed by SIDBI, which he said will act as a one-stop solution to meet the financing and other needs of early stage and start-up enterprises.
President Mukherjee said that innovation is a harbinger of socio-economic development. It facilitates growth and creates job opportunities. Innovation holds great promise in uplifting the living standards of people. A novel idea if transformed into a useful product can usher in progress for the society.
But he also warned that the path to convert novelties into new products or services is riddled with challenges.
He said that any new business venture require resources for investing in factors of production like capital, workforce and technology. New-age financing options like angel investors, venture capitalists, crowd funding, seed finance, and ‘innovation on technology’ funds can meet the special requirements of innovation projects at formative stages.
The President highlighted that several initiatives being launched for the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in India.
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is being set up as a platform involving academics, entrepreneurs and researchers to foster a culture of innovation and promote a network of world-class innovation hubs.
The Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank (also called MUDRA Bank) has been set up to provide fillip to entrepreneurship in India through the funding of non-corporate small business sector.
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