Dr Mukesh Mahaling, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 & 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 & 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚, visited i-Hub Gujarat on 26th December 2025.
The Hon’ble Minister chaired a roundtable discussion with key ecosystem stakeholders, startups, and i-Hub officials. The interaction commenced with i-Hub officials, Mr. Hiranmay Mahanta (CEO, i-Hub) made a presentation provided an overview of Gujarat’s startup and innovation ecosystem. They also touched upon the handholding support provided to innovators across their journey from Mind-to-Market, including grant assistance, mentorship, capacity-building, IP and patent filing assistance, legal and regulatory guidance, facilitating private funding and infrastructure support through co-working facilities serving as a comprehensive model enabling startups to ideate, validate, scale, and commercialize innovations effectively. Further the delegate interacted with ecosystem stakeholders, including representatives from industry chambers, university leadership, faculty members, and heads of university-based incubation centers, followed by engagements with startup founders from diverse sectors. In the concluding segment, the Hon’ble Cabinet Minister encouraged startups to explore opportunities to pilot and implement their solutions within the Odisha ecosystem, assuring support through market enablement & industry connect. He also highlighted the establishment of O-Hub in Odisha, inspired by the i-Hub Gujarat model, and talked about the scope for cross-incubation collaboration between Gujarat and Odisha, creating a cohesive and vibrant ecosystem.
