Punjab is emerging as hub of innovative ideas and startups, says Aman Arora

Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, April 12, 2023: To realise the dream of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to make Punjab a hub of innovative ideas and startups, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Aman Arora on Wednesday said that talent ecosystem is being developed to hone the skills of youth from rural and remote areas.

He was addressing a jam-packed auditorium hall of Amity University, SAS Nagar (Mohali), where the grand finale of "What an Idea! Startup Challenge" was organised by SAS Nagar district administration in association with District Bureau of Employment and Enterprises.

Motivating the grand finale winners, Aman Arora said that it’s just a beginning and their out of the box ideas can take them to heights of success in life as sky is the limit. It's just a platform to take off to achieve bigger goals, he added.

Director Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Deepti Uppal said that the main objective of this competition was to provide platform to the local population and students to bring forward their innovative business ideas and encourage entrepreneurship.

Aman Arora, while distributing prizes to winners of Innovative Startup Ideas, wished them all the best for their future endeavours.

Meanwhile, In student category, the First Prize of Rs 50,000/ was bagged by Rajat Narang for project of Digital Chowkidaar, Kaushal Malhotra won 2nd prize of Rs 30,000/- for startup project of AEROGENS and Jaspreet Kaur won third prize of Rs 20000/- for startup project of Innovative use of Stubble. In open category, Dr. Gowri Jayamurugan won first prize of Rs. 50000/- for startup project of Bio-sunscreen, Gaurav Bali won 2nd prize of Rs. 30,000/- for startup project of CAREWELL360 and Saswat Patnaik bagged 3rd prize of Rs. 20,000/- for startup project of Resnote.

Apart from this, Harmanjot Kaur and her team (students of Govt. Senior Secondary School, Majatri) were given a special consolation prize of Rs 8,000/- for their Nobel idea “Padhai di Zidd”, which they started to teach under privileged children. 

The final pitching competition was judged by a Jury panel of Joint Director PSCST Dr. Dapinder Bakshi, Sr. Consultant Invest Punjab Ankur Kushwaha, Tynor Orthotics' Paras Bafna, CEO JAL B.S. Anand, Mission Director-cum-CEO Innovation Mission, Punjab Somveer Anand and Head of Angels Network's Chd operations Nitika Khurana.

CEO DBEE Avneet Kaur, ADC (G) Amninder Kaur Brar, Deputy Director DBEE Meenakshi Goyal and presidents along with their teams from Mohali Industrial Association, Mohali Chambers of Industries & Commerce, Chanalo Industrial Association & Cheema Boilers were also present during the event.