PRIME Meghalaya graduates 75 startups, adds 75 more under CMECC 6.0

PRIME Meghalaya, on February 5, inducted 75 new startups and graduated another 75 from its incubation programme, underscoring the scale-up of the state’s entrepreneurship push and its growing employment impact.

With this round, the programme has supported about 5,000 entrepreneurs across Meghalaya, disbursed around Rs 200 crore, and contributed to nearly 7,000 direct jobs. The latest onboarding was carried out under the Chief Minister’s E-Championship Challenge (CMECC) 6.0, while the graduating ventures belonged to Cohort 5.

The onboarding and graduation programme, held in Shillong, highlighted the state’s focus on widening startup access beyond urban centres. Officials said CMECC 6.0 alone drew close to 4,000 applications, with outreach covering nearly 2,500 villages through field-based incubation and mentoring.

Under the current challenge, the top 35 startups receive business grants of Rs 2 lakh each, while the next 40 are awarded Rs 1 lakh. All selected ventures are provided a nine-month incubation package that includes training, mentorship, market linkages and access to finance through grants, loans and investors.

Officials also indicated that an additional Rs 80 crore in funding support is in the pipeline, with a longer-term target of generating more than 25,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2032.

Several founders credited the programme’s hands-on mentoring for helping them scale operations, including ventures working in agribusiness, food processing, manufacturing and social impact sectors. One incubated startup recently received a national-level award for work in disability empowerment, officials noted.

Awards were presented across categories such as scale-up, incubation impact, market access, circular economy and consistency in growth, recognising enterprises at different stages of maturity.

The latest cohort marks another step in Meghalaya’s effort to position entrepreneurship as a mainstream employment pathway, with state-backed incubation and funding aimed at translating local ideas into viable businesses.