BYST, CISCO Partners with AP Govt to Empower Young Entrepreneurs in Districts
The initiative aims to encourage entrepreneurship at the household level and build stronger local enterprise ecosystems
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2026-03-10 10:38 GMT
Amaravati: In a bid to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of young people and create sustainable livelihood opportunities, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) is partnering with Andhra Pradesh government to scale and strengthen micro and nano enterprises across the state. Through this collaboration BYST will provide support through counselling, training, mentoring, access to finance, and handholding.
Marking International Women’s Day 2026, BYST signed an MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and Minister of MSME, SERP, and NRI empowerment and relations Kondapalli Srinivas, supporting its vision of “One Family, One Entrepreneur (OFOE)”.
It aims to encourage entrepreneurship at the household level and build stronger local enterprise ecosystems. The programme will be implemented across Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Amaravati, Tirupati, Kadapa, and Anantapur, creating opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to transform ideas into viable businesses. Over the next three years, BYST with support from APMSME, CISCO India CSR efforts, and others aim to further strengthen the state’s entrepreneurship ecosystem by building a network of 15,000 mentors and facilitating financial access for more than 2,000 youth entrepreneurs.
According to data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) July–September 2025, Andhra Pradesh’s unemployment rate stood at 8.2 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 5.2 per cent, highlighting the urgent need to expand pathways for entrepreneurship and self-employment. The data also indicates that unemployment remains particularly high in rural areas, while women continue to face disproportionately higher barriers to employment.
Lakshmi V. Venkatesan, Founding and Managing Trustee of BYST, said: “Young people across India are full of ideas and ambition, but too often the journey stops before it begins because they lack guidance, skills training, or access to finance. Through this initiative in Andhra Pradesh, BYST is working to change that by connecting young entrepreneurs with mentoring, learning opportunities, and financial pathways so that promising ideas can grow into sustainable enterprises that generate livelihoods and strengthen local economies.”
The collaboration is launching a statewide ‘Business Idea Contest’ to identify and nurture 5,000 youth-led business ideas across six key districts in the state. A ‘Yuva Vyaparitva Ratham’ (Youth Entrepreneurship Van) will travel across the six Districts, raising awareness about the contest and encouraging young people to submit their business ideas. Shortlisted participants will receive entrepreneurship training, structured mentoring, and support in accessing formal finance, helping them transform their ideas into viable and sustainable enterprises.
The initiative represents an important step towards strengthening Andhra Pradesh’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and enabling young people to transition from job seekers to job creators.