Bhubaneswar, Feb 12 (IANS): The Odisha government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the HDFC Bank Limited to provide smart banking solutions to Startups in the state.

The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department signed the MoU with the HDFC Bank in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

"Young entrepreneurs are engines of growth for new Odisha. I am sure this MoU between Start-up Odisha and HDFC Bank will open up new possibilities for startups," said the Chief Minister.

The bank would provide smart banking solutions to the Startups recognised by the Startup Odisha along with opportunity to pitch their solutions to requisite stakeholders and will work towards providing them an opportunity to showcase their solutions.

In addition, the bank will extend incubation and acceleration support to all Startups banking with them, said an official.

HDFC Bank is having third party alliances to provide discounts for startups across key business support functions like shared work spaces, digital marketing, content writing, tax and legal advisory, financial management, compliance among others.

Also, it will enable startups to list on their Smart Buy platform for growth and visibility, the official said.

The Chief Minister expressed his satisfaction with the progress made under the Odisha Startup Policy.

"My government is working relentlessly to support the young Startups in every possible way. We are going to set up a world-class Startup Hub in Bhubaneswar and launch a fund for Startups this year to further boost the ecosystem," said Patnaik.

Dibyashankar Mishra, the MSME Minister said: "Odisha is one of the fastest growing StartUp ecosystem in the country and we invite more such partners to collaborate with us in this journey creating a holistic support system for Startups."