THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

Odisha on Wednesday launched the ‘Odisha Seva First Innovation Challenge’ (OSFIC), a statewide initiative aimed at engaging more than one lakh participants and fostering innovation, entrepreneurship and service-oriented solutions to real-world challenges.

The initiative, launched by Startup Odisha under the Department of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises at O-Hub here, seeks to create a platform for students, youth and grassroots innovators to turn ideas into practical solutions contributing to the state’s socio-economic development.

The challenge will cover 21 key themes and bring together participants from diverse sections of society, including students from schools, universities and technical institutions, startups and MSMEs, artisans, farmers, women self-help groups, senior citizens and NCC and NSS units.

Launching the initiative, MSME and Fisheries & Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik said innovative ideas emerging from the top 20 winners would be compiled into a compendium that could help attract investment to the state.

Mallik called upon students and young people to pursue their interests and passions, assuring them of government support in developing meaningful solutions. He stressed the need to strengthen incubation and nurture innovative ideas to help young people transition from job seekers to job creators.

Industries and Skill Development & Technical Education Minister Sampad Chandra Swain said innovation was not confined to laboratories and could emerge from villages, farms, artisan communities and educational institutions.

 “Innovation can take birth in the soil of a village, through a farmer’s experience, in the hands of an artisan, in the imagination of a student, or through the creativity of women,” Swain said.

He said the initiative was founded on the principle that development becomes meaningful when it improves the lives of common citizens.

 “Service shall be our resolve. Innovation shall be our strength. Skill excellence shall be our identity. A prosperous Odisha shall be our goal,” the minister said.

Science & Technology and Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra urged participants to channel innovation towards public service and nation-building. He said the department had prepared a blueprint for development in areas including biotechnology and artificial intelligence through a special Odisha Innovation Mission.

Former Rajya Sabha member Amar Patnaik attended the launch as the distinguished guest.

Startup Odisha CEO Smruti Ranjan Pradhan delivered the welcome address, while MSME Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary and Startup Odisha Chairperson Rashmita Panda outlined the strategic vision behind the initiative and its potential to strengthen Odisha’s startup and innovation ecosystem.

The event also witnessed the unveiling of the official OSFIC web portal and the signing of strategic memoranda of understanding between Startup Odisha and AIIMS Bhubaneswar, World Skill Centre and ASSOCHAM.

One-time capital grants were also distributed to leading incubators, including ACURATE, NIST, CIPET and SOA, as part of efforts to strengthen the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

OSFIC is designed as a statewide launchpad to identify, nurture and support promising ideas capable of addressing real-world challenges through scalable and service-oriented innovations.

The initiative will culminate in a grand finale, with financial rewards for the winners. Organisers said the challenge would provide participants with an opportunity to develop their ideas into actionable solutions and contribute to Odisha’s development journey.

Interested participants can register through the official OSFIC portal at osfic.startupodisha.org/register.