Summary:
Panaji: The High Powered Startup Promotion Committee, which includes chief minister Manohar Parrikar and minister for information and technology, is expected to meet on January 17 and approve the disbursal of incentives to startups. Khaunte is also expected to ink agreements on behalf of the state government with Indian blockchain conglomerate Eleven01 and with US-based financial software company Intuit. In order to encourage startups to recruit locals, the IT department is also offering 25% of the salary paid to the local staff if 60% of the startup’s workforce is Goan.The IT department expects that once the incentives are disbursed, many startups that are sceptical will come forward and register for benefits. Once the funds are disbursed, this will be the first time that Goa’s startups get incentives under any IT Policy.The Goa Startup Policy 2017 incentivizes startups that hire local talent and offers to reimburse 50% of the salary paid to freshers subject to a cap of Rs 10,000 per month per recruit. The committee is also expected to scrutinise and approve 35-odd applications from startups for certification.Most crucially, American motherboard chip manufacturer, Intel Corporation (Intel), is slated to enter into an agreement with Goa to develop a GPS-based infrastructure map that could identify poor road infrastructure locations in Goa.TOI had reported this possibility on July 16, 2018..