NABARD Boosts Agri Entrepreneurship with XLRI Incubation Centre

NABARD announced support for a Rural Business Incubation Centre at XLRI Jamshedpur, aimed at nurturing agri and rural entrepreneurship across Eastern and North-Eastern India. The centre will provide incubation support to entrepreneurs from 12 states for five years, focusing on sustainable and inclusive regional development through innovation in agriculture.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched a Rural Business Incubation Centre at XLRI Jamshedpur, designed to foster agri and rural entrepreneurship across Eastern and North-Eastern India. This initiative will benefit entrepreneurs from 12 states, including all eight North-Eastern states.

The XLRI Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (XCITE) is supported by NABARD's Rural Business Incubation initiative, which aims to enhance structured incubation facilities at distinguished national institutions. NABARD will finance the centre's operations for five years to support rural start-ups through mentoring, market linkage, and enterprise development.

An agreement between NABARD and XLRI Jamshedpur was formalized on Friday. With clearly defined milestones, progress will be periodically reviewed. NABARD's RS Bhagwane highlighted the vital role of prominent institutions like XLRI in transforming rural innovations into scalable businesses.

(With inputs from agencies.)