In Rajya Sabha , the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey replying to un-starred questions of Dr. Parmar JashvantsinhSalamsinh, Dr. MedhaVishram Kulkarni and Smt. RamilabenBecharbhai Bara today said that the Ministry launched the scheme of ‘Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Tribes’ (VCF-ST) on 10^th February, 2024 with a corpus of Rs. 50 crore to promote entrepreneurship among STs. The fund is floated as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) Category-II under Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as debt oriented. The scheme is being implemented through IFCI VCF Ltd.

Under the scheme, IFCI VCF Ltd. organized a Symposium on 28^th January, 2025 wherein major Venture Capitalists and Impact Investors were invited to deliberate on actionable strategies aimed at uplifting tribal entrepreneurs, catalyzing investments in tribal-led startups and fostering inclusive growth. The participants included representatives from Indian Angel Network, Info Edge, IVCA, Aavishkaar Capital, GrowthCap Ventures, Villgro, SKI Capital, IFCI Venture and former officials of SIDBI. The key recommendations from the symposium included building quality tribal enterprises, targeted capacity-building programs at village level, identify specific industries with high potential for tribal empowerment and innovation, such as agriculture, handicrafts, and sustainable development and promote Fund of Funds (FOF) models to channel investments into innovative and impactful sectors.

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(Release ID: 2153049)