Odisha is set to become home to the Centre of Excellence for Virtual and Augmented Reality (VARCoE), on the university campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar, according to an official.

The aim of the new incubation centre is to support startups and entrepreneurship in the state, specifically focused on the Virtual and Augmented Reality sector, according to Prafulla Samal, Minister at the MSME Department of Odisha, as reported by Times of India.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in regard to the upcoming incubation centre by IIT-Bhubaneswar, the state’s MSME department, Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and Susmita Bagchi, a writer and philanthropist.

The centre will allow for facilities and labs for testing and development of algorithms, the most up-to-date research and the ability for application within the field. The director general of STPI, Omkar Rai said startups from the campus would be encouraged to join the society.

Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik said the incubation centre would be built in collaboration with Odisha’s state government, STPI, an IIT and Susmita Bagchi, saying the centre would be unique to the nation.

For the purpose of building the new centre, the university’s director received Rs 2.5 crore from Startup Odisha Initiative. The Startup Odisha Initiative was set up by the state’s government with the portal being launched in May 2017. 20 out of the 162 startups registered with the portal have been receiving benefits, according to MSME Secretary L.N. Gupta.

(Picture courtesy: IIT Bhubaneswar)