Bhubaneswar, Nov 28: The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has agreed to be the brand ambassador of Odisha's IT sector.

"The agency has already collaborated in the Make in Odisha conclave that is scheduled to start from Wednesday," said the IT secretary P.K. Jena.

Jena said major software and consulting firms such as Gartner, McKenzie and Boston Consulting Group held discussions with Nasscom at the CEOs' conference here and have expressed interest to set up base in Odisha.

Jena said: "Nasscom has set up an office in Bhubaneswar and it is the second such establishment in eastern India. CEOs of many software firms had a healthy interaction with the government's IT department and appreciated the depth in the sector in Odisha."

Jena added that Nasscom has also set up a start-up centre at Odisha Computer Application Centre in Bhubaneswar. "The centre would help in mentoring budding local entrepreneurs," the IT secretary said.

Nasscom chairman C.P. Gurnani said as many as 40 CEOs of major software firms interacted with entrepreneurs from Odisha. "The CEOs were impressed by the business ideas suggested by the budding entrepreneurs of the state and have agreed to help them in their future endeavours," Gurnani said.

Nasscom president and CEO R. Chandrasekhar said the IT sector in the country is growing despite turbulences in the world economy. "Its spending has witnessed a surge in the last few months and it augurs well for Bhubaneswar, which has the potential to emerge as a major IT hub of the country," said Chandrasekhar.