Odisha minister asks industry to make start-ups partners, not vendors, at O-LEADS

Odisha's start-ups must move beyond incubation and start selling real solutions to industry, the state's Industries and Skill Development Minister Sampad Chandra Swain told business leaders at O-LEADS 2026, a two-day conclave organised by the industry body ASSOCHAM in Bhubaneswar on Friday, 9 and Saturday, 10 October 2026. Swain asked companies to treat young firms as innovation partners rather than as vendors, and to back them with pilot projects, testing facilities, mentoring and access to markets. At the same event, the state's MSME Commissioner-cum-Secretary Rashmita Panda pointed to a proposed new start-up policy for Odisha and to equity funding for start-ups.

Many Indian states have built large incubation networks over the past decade. Incubators give founders office space, mentors and small grants, but a start-up only survives if someone pays for what it makes. Swain's message targets that gap. In Odisha, as in most states outside the big metros, many of the largest potential customers are big industrial companies, and young local firms often struggle to get a hearing with them.

The approach he described is simple in principle: an established company names a real problem, a start-up builds a solution, and the company tests it in a paid or supported pilot. If the pilot works, the start-up gets its first serious customer and a reference that helps it win others. For founders across Odisha, that route can matter more than a funding round, because it proves the product works where it is meant to be used.

The mention of a proposed new start-up policy is the other point to watch. The details have not been published in the reports available, but equity funding was flagged as part of the discussion. Founders and investors in the state should look out for what the policy offers on funding, government purchasing and support for start-ups outside Bhubaneswar.

The caveat is that a conclave produces statements, not contracts. No specific pilot projects, funding amounts or signed agreements were reported from the event. The test will be whether large companies operating in Odisha actually open their problems and budgets to local start-ups in the months ahead.

Short-term: Start-ups in Odisha may find more openings to pitch directly to large companies, especially through industry bodies and state programmes that broker pilot projects.

Long-term: If a new start-up policy links funding with industry pilots and government purchasing, Odisha could raise the share of its start-ups that grow beyond the incubation stage and create jobs locally.

Who is affected: Founders and early-stage start-ups in Odisha, incubators and colleges, large industrial companies operating in the state, and students looking for internships and apprenticeships.

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