Taking a leaf out of Telangana’s startup incubator T-Hub, the Maharashtra government is planning to set up a startup hub in the state.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the information technology (IT), skill development and entrepreneurship departments to form a team of experts and look in to the possibilities of building a ‘world-class’ startup hub.
The report states that Fadnavis also called for a study into the already existing startup ecosystem in the state and the innovation scenario.
A team of experts comprising representatives from NASSCOM and other similar organizations will be constituted by IT secretary SVR Srinivas and skill development and entrepreneurship secretary Aseem Gupta.
Fadnavis has also called for a study into the existing innovation and start-up ecosystem of the state.
Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan convened a meeting at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, which was attended by the CM, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Harish Mehta, founder NASSCOM, Dr BVR Mohan Reddy, founder and executive chairman of Cyient, Jay Krishnan and Srinivas Kollipara, promoters of T-Hub Hyderabad along with senior government officials, reports HT.
T-Hub was started in 2015 as a partnership between the government and three academic institutions — IIIT-Hyderabad, ISB and Nalsar and is currently the largest incubator in the country. Spread over 70,000 square feet, it currently houses over 200 startups.
It also recently launched its flagship incubation program for startups called Lab 32.
Earlier this month, the central government recognized T-Hub recognized among the top 3 incubators in the country, following which Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Startup India and delegates from 12 Indian states visited T-Hub for a two-day knowledge sharing program to learn from the best practices and try and replicate it in their own states
On its part, Maharashtra has also been looking at giving startups a platform to be able showcase their innovation. It will also be organizing Maharashtra Startup Week, 2018 in June to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in the state.