Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, on Tuesday, said that as India gets set to celebrate its 75th anniversary of Independence, it was important to provide a clear vision and roadmap to the country about its future, especially to the youth.
Pointing out that young India is aspirational, wants to be challenged and yearned to compete globally, he said, “Our government recognised this aspirational India early on... put young India on the global map. We wanted to build an India known equally for its entrepreneurial and technology capabilities.”
The Chief Minister, while speaking after inaugurating the T-Hub 2nd phase building, said that the State government has created a world-class entity at T-Hub to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. “We are dedicating our T-Hub 2.0 to young Indians across the country. If they propose to build an innovative start-up, we will provide them with a collaborative innovation ecosystem,” he asserted.
An initiative of Telangana government, the second phase of the tech start-up incubator and innovation ecosystem enabler has been developed with State budgetary support of ₹400 crore. It has a built-up area of over 5.82 lakh sq ft and will be home to thousands of start-ups, corporates, investors as well as national and international ecosystem partners.
Stating that Telangana’s start-up policy is progressive and was behind fruitful partnerships with both corporates and academia, Mr. Rao said, “This is something very uniquely wonderful about our State. Every stakeholder, be it from academia or R&D institutions or corporate, has wholeheartedly come forward to synergise its activities to support innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Launched in 2015
T-Hub was launched in 2015 as part of the State’s decision to consistently encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in a big way. Mr. Rao said T-Hub has emerged as a national role model and impacted over 2,000 entrepreneurs besides playing a role in $1.19 billion being raised in funding by the start-ups. It is a brand synonymous with innovation, the Chief Minister said, adding, “Phase 1 showed us there is a huge appetite for entrepreneurship among the youth in India. We felt we must capitalise on this appetite.”
Five times bigger
Five times bigger, the new facility seeks to incubate the next generation of start-ups that one day will be strong pillars for Indian economy, he told a gathering comprising several young entrepreneurs, including those behind unicorns, soonicorns, as well as elected representatives, senior officials, industry leaders and members of the diplomatic corps.
Appreciating IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and officials for their efforts in evolving a unique model of innovation and entrepreneurship in the State, KCR said the day is not far away when the next big breakthrough in start-up innovation will come from Hyderabad.
