CM Khandu expands Arunachal startup hub, pushes for bigger APIIP and youth empowerment drive

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 20, 2025

In a major boost to entrepreneurship, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday announced plans to expand the Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park (APIIP) to accommodate more than the current 50 startups per year and broaden the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Development Program (APEDP).

Established in August 2020 under the Department of Planning, Investment & Finance, APIIP serves as the state’s flagship startup incubator. It conducts annual startup challenges, provides seed funding, and offers nine-month incubation and pre-incubation programs.

In just four years, APIIP has supported 106 startups across three cohorts, disbursing over Rs 4.5 crore in seed funding. Significantly, 38% of these ventures are women-led, spanning agriculture, handicrafts, IT, e-commerce, and tourism.

This year, APIIP became the first state incubator in India to adopt Artificial Intelligence for shortlisting applications, through which 50 startups were selected.

While praising APIIP’s achievements, Khandu stressed that limiting support to 50 startups annually is inadequate. He directed officials to expand the park’s premises—either by renting additional space or constructing a new building—with full government backing.

Khandu, along with Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, distributed graduation certificates to Cohort 3.0 and prize money to Cohort 4.0 startups. On the same occasion, APIIP signed MoUs with seven educational institutions to mentor new entrepreneurs.

The institutions include Arunachal Pradesh University (Pasighat), Arunachal University of Studies (Namsai), Dorjee Khandu Govt College (Tawang), Dera Natung Govt College (Itanagar), NERIST (Nirjuli), NIT (Jote), and Rajiv Gandhi University (Doimukh).

Soon, startup cells will be established in these institutions to nurture student-led innovations, ensuring that no good idea goes unsupported.

Linking the initiative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat @2047 vision, Khandu said: “His Startup India mission has transformed India’s entrepreneurial landscape—from garages to global IPOs, from small towns to big tech hubs. In Arunachal Pradesh, every road built, every enterprise supported, every dream encouraged, is a step towards Viksit Arunachal.”

He also highlighted YES Arunachal – Youth Empowerment Sphere, a newly launched one-stop platform for all government schemes, which will be strengthened through APIIP’s role.

Khandu further proposed upgrading the Investment Cell under the Planning, Investment & Finance Department into a full-fledged directorate, empowering it to independently mobilize resources for budding entrepreneurs.

The event was attended by cabinet ministers, senior officials, representatives of Start-Up India, and mentors from IIT Delhi and IIM Shillong.