Micro, small and medium enterprises minister Prafulla Samal (second from right) and L.N. Gupta, the secretary of the department, hand over a citation to chief minister Naveen Patnaik at secretariat in Bhubaneswar. The citation has been presented by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Silicon Valley, in appreciation of the start-up initiative that the state has undertaken.

Ram K. Reddy, president of the non-profit organisation founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals, presented the citation to a government delegation on May 5 at Santa Clara in the US. TiE, Silicon Valley, also agreed to back the start-up conclave in Bhubaneswar in October.