While the cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have long been on the forefront of the Indian startup story, a few states are all set to challenge their hegemony. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha are fast moving in the race with vigor and conviction. And soon, very soon they will be able to come up with an environment to boost the growth of startups.

Gujarat

The state that gave us Ambanis and Adanis cannot be behind when it comes to nurturing startups, and with Mr. Modi at the helm, you can count on the center’s support for this state. The much touted “Development Model” of Gujarat has been cited as an example for all other states. Now, it is set to go to the next level. The recent announcements on IT and Electronics Startup Policy by the Gujarat Government encourages new ventures by providing subsidies and incentives. This startup policy aims at assisting startups through mentoring around 2000 startups in the IT and Electronics arena by developing 50 incubators with an investment of 7000 crores. The government has plans to provide 10 Lakhs square feet of land for these 50 incubators. The government will provide with 5 Lakh rupees to each incubator every year. Now, that’s what you call pro-business approach. The enterprising Gujaratis are sure to cash in on this.

Andhra Pradesh

Well, they might have lost the IT hub Hyderabad to Telangana, but it is never safe to write off Chandra Babu Naidu. The man wasn’t called the “CEO of Hyderabad” for nothing. With  a whole new state at his disposal, he is coming up with innovative business-friendly policies like a man on fire. Andhra government has plans to build an Innovation Hub in Kakinada, the coastal city of Andhra Pradesh. Chandra Babu intends to develop Kakinada like an economic zone similar to Shenzen in China. And while IT is close to Naidu’s heart, thanks to its coastal lengths, Andhra can be another gateway to India and a heaven to those start-ups which wish to deal in international trade. Everything from the Gulf to the far east a is accessible from Andhra’s ports, and any startup would do well to venture into them.

Odisha

This surprise entry in the list has been an economic underdog for quite a while. It has been amongst the nation’s poorest states and stories of the people starving are still not forgotten. Large parts of the state are yet to reap the benefits of economic liberalization. However, ‘Acche Din’ may be about to come to Odisha in a big way. The startup policy formulated by the Odisha Government targets the creation of 10 Lakh new job opportunities by the year 2017 through a planned investment to the extent of 2.5 Lakhs crores. The government’s Vision 2025 aims at making Odisha the industrial hub of Eastern India. These initiatives plan to boost many sectors like healthcare, textiles, automobiles, petrochemicals, and of course IT. In another big step, the Odisha Government aims at providing every village here with power supply before or by the year 2019. So a friendly government, easy loans, cheap labor and a newly acquired huge customer base (electricity reaching the villages would mean millions of new consumers), make the state uniquely positioned for all kinds of startups.

If there ever is a time to start up in India, it is now, especially in these states.

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