Sambalpur : IIM Sambalpur organised a national conclave on the topic “Innovation Based Entrepreneurship in MSME – Service Sector “. The inaugural ceremony of the conclave was graced by Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur, Sameer Vishnoi, CEO, CHiPS, Raipur, Dr. Sukanta Kumar Sahoo, director in-charge, MSME, Anand Vijay Jha, chief public policy officer, Walmart India and Keshav Rao, Director (Personnel), MCL.
Speaking on the occasion, Jaiswal said, “At IIM Sambalpur, we always strive to give small and medium businesses all the support we can for them to prosper. The MSME sector contributes 29% to India’s GDP. The service sector contributes more than 54% in India’s GDP. It is our privilege to host the first such national conclave of the region to give further boost to this sector. It also gives me great joy to announce that a Business Incubation Centre was inaugurated at IIM Sambalpur. This incubation centre aims to encourage entrepreneurial ideas initially on the regional level, ultimately expanding across the country.”
A panel discussion on “Innovation based enterprises and opportunities available for start-ups” followed which included panellists Anil Pradhan, Founder, IPSFRI (School for Rural Innovation), Vijay Bijlani, Founder, SME Business Consulting, Dr. A Balamurugan (Moderator), Director, Straitegic Solutions Private Limited, Arun Nagpal, Co-Founder and MD, Mrida Group and Prasanta Biswal, Founder, The BattiGhar Foundation. The discussion revolved around various challenges that young minds of the country need to address by coming up with innovative solutions.

The conversation further pursued with a second panel exchanging their thoughts on the topic “Challenges in Start-ups and possible solutions”. Eminent panel members included Mandeep Kaur Sidhu, Founder, SimbaQuartz, NGO Smiles Care, Kishan Nanavati, CEO, Spring Health Water India Pvt, Prahllad Mittal, CEO & Co-founder, Homvery, Sakyasingha Mahapatra, Founder, SakRobotix Lab and Bindu Sharma, Founder & CEO, Origiin IP Solutions LLP. Apart from sharing the challenges faced by them while establishing their start-ups, the panellists motivated the students to be the job-creators instead of being the jobseekers.