Bhubaneswar, Jul 31: In a landmark initiative, the Odisha government’s Higher Education and IT departments have joined hands to establish an Integrated Global Financial Technology Capability Hub in the state.

This visionary programme, in collaboration with Singapore-based Global FinTech Network (GFTN), aims to provide world-class education to 7,000 students over the next five years.

The programme will offer specialized FinTech courses to selected students from 100 colleges across 30 districts. Registration begins on August 5, with entrance exams scheduled for August 8 and results to be announced on August 18. Out of thousands of applicants, 375 students will be selected for the first batch and will receive the course entirely free of cost.

The Odisha government will bear ₹82,000 per student for the course, which will run from September 25 to November 24. The curriculum will be delivered by international trainers, with 55% of the sessions conducted online and 45% offline. An additional online module will be held from December 8 to January 5.

To ensure employment opportunities, the Higher Education Department will sign MoUs with leading financial institutions for placement support. The first two years of the course will be completely free, with the government covering all expenses.

This initiative marks the first time such a FinTech education program is being offered by any Indian state. The MoU with GFTN was signed last September in the presence of the President of Singapore, who visited Odisha for the occasion.

At a press conference held on Thursday, ministers from both the Higher Education and IT departments shared details of the programme and emphasized its potential to transform Odisha into a global FinTech talent hub.

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