Indian government is all set to launch first government-owned co-working space for startups in Mangaluru. The initiative is being led by Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister as part of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development scheme.

With this initiative, government wants to create space for hardware development and experimentation with readily available 3D printing equipment.

Co-working space will offer cutting-edge technology such as 3D printing along with new-age digital infrastructure, such as high-speed Internet.

To finalise the design and functioning of the Mangaluru facility, a team is consulting with some of the Delhi-based co-working space owners. If reports to be believed, the co-working space will be made available to startups at a price nearly half the market rate being charged by privately owned social workspaces. In this regards, government is trying to work out a sustainable revenue model for the facility designed to accommodate 100 people. Not only this, Minister’s office is also approaching other government departments and ministries to build synergies and meet the costs of getting the place up and running.

To help easy access for startups, at a later stage, a patent facilitation cell would also be made functional at the workspace. Nasscom has been roped in to provide the technological backup whereas the Kannada Chamber of Commerce is also pitching in.

Apart from this, the government is also working towards finalising the plan for setting up India’s first startup district in Mangaluru which would have specialised incubation centres, and 20 tinkering labs for schools for the areas such as agriculture, health and education.

Earlier, Minister has launched the Startup India Virtual Hub to encourage Indian entrepreneur. It is an online platform for all stakeholders to discover, connect and engage with each other. Not only this, during the launch, Minister has also announced a new initiative, wherein a Startup exchange program amongst the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations would be organized which will enable startups from South Asian region to exchange new ideas and promoting interaction among them.
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