Thiruvananthapuram, January 27: With an aim to help the expatriate entrepreneurs, the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) Pravasi Startup Scheme has proved to be a major hit for these startups. Reports inform that the NORKA has supported 4,179 expatriate entrepreneurs over the past five years. Moreover, the Left government in Kerala has sanctioned Rs 220.37 crore for such start-up projects by ”pravasis” who have returned to Kerala, an official release said.
In the last financial year i.e. in 2019-20, 1,043 people realised their entrepreneurial dreams using the Pravasi Startup Scheme and Rs 53.40 crore was sanctioned for this, the government said in a release. TheNon-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) Pravasi Startup Scheme is a joint venture between NORKA and the Kerala Startup Mission to create self-employment opportunities for Pravasis who return from abroad and wish to embark on a new journey here as entrepreneurs.
The main aim of the NORKA scheme is to rehabilitate expatriates who can contribute to the economic development of the State according to their professional skills. Kerala Bank, Canara Bank and the Travancore Pravasi Development Co-operative Society are few of the 16 banks that provide loans to expatriates.
NORKA Pravasi Startup Scheme: All You Need to Know
- Loans up to Rs 30 lakh with a capital subsidy of 15 percent (subject to a maximum of Rs 3 lakh) are available for start-ups by those expats who have returned to Kerala after working abroad for at least two years and now settled in Kerala.
- The scheme also offers a 3 per cent interest rebate for the first four years for those who repay the interest on time.
- Kerala Bank, Canara Bank and the Travancore Pravasi Development Co-operative Society are few of the 16 banks that provide loans to expatriates.
- NORKA has expanded its field camps to reach out to more people, to make the loan procedures easier and to make loan processing in a single day.
- Seven camps were conducted during the 2019-20 financial year and about 500 pravasis have benefitted from this.
Here’s How You Can Apply and Check Details Online:
Interested Pravasis can check http://norkapsp.startupmission.in and norkapsp.startupmission.in for further details and apply for the scheme. People cab also call on 08047180470 for any information on the Kerala Startup Mission. NORKA toll-free numbers 18004253939 (from India) & 00918802012345 (Missed Call Service from abroad) and on http://norkaroots.org and norkaroots.org website.
The Norka Pravasi Startup Programme(NPSP) will facilitate the NRIs by means of various Technology business opportunities which the NRI community can adopt and contribute to the economic development of the state.