NABARD Jharkhand supports Rural Business Incubation Centre at XLRI

Ranchi, Dec 19 (PTI) The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development's (NABARD) Jharkhand Regional Office on Friday said it has extended grant support for the establishment of a Rural Business Incubation Centre (RBIC) at XLRI Jamshedpur.

The RBIC, aimed at promoting agri and rural entrepreneurship across Eastern and North-Eastern India, will extend incubation support to entrepreneurs from 12 states -- Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and the eight North-Eastern states.

"The incubation centre, titled XLRI Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (XCITE), has been set up with NABARD's support under its Rural Business Incubation initiative, which focuses on strengthening structured incubation facilities in institutions of national repute.

"NABARD will defray the cost of establishing and operating the incubation centre for a period of five years, enabling comprehensive hand holding of rural start-ups through mentoring, enterprise development, market linkage and financial facilitation," the bank said in a statement.

XCITE will nurture early-stage, innovation-led enterprises in agriculture, allied activities and rural non-farm sectors, with emphasis on sustainability, employment generation and inclusive regional development, it said.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between NABARD and XLRI Jamshedpur was signed on Friday, marking the operationalisation of the incubation centre, it said.

Under the initiative, NABARD's support will be provided over a five-year incubation period, with clearly defined output and outcome milestones such as start-ups incubated, enterprises commercialised and livelihoods generated.

Progress will be monitored through periodic milestone-based reviews.

Speaking on the occasion, RS Bhagwane, General Manager, NABARD Jharkhand RO, stated that incubation centres anchored in institutions of national standing play a crucial role in converting rural innovations into viable and scalable enterprises.

XLRI Jamshedpur, as the implementing institution, will leverage its management expertise, academic resources and regional outreach to support start-ups from ideation to sustainable commercial operations. PTI NAM NN