Telangana aims at becoming next startup haven

In an attempt to become the kernel for rising enterprises in the country, Telangana government is planning to initiate an event similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Startup India where a substantial number of start-ups, as well as incubators, will be invited.

Throughout this event, which will be organized in Hyderabad in August, government's focus will be on generating home-grown entrepreneurs.

The state also plans to bring on board 20 global accelerators and incubators to build plug-and-play work spaces in public-private partnership mode. The government also plans to mobilize Rs 2,000-crore innovation fund to help start-ups.

However, a final decision on 'Startup Fest’ is yet to be taken by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Meetings on the matter will be held on Tuesday, where Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to be briefed on it this week.

A senior official at DIPP said, "The state government is giving a lot of tax sops and has already started single-window clearances for budding entrepreneurs. Its T-Hub is one of the best facilities in the country. That is why we are planning to organize the next start-up event in Hyderabad."

Experts believe it was the response for T-Hub, India's largest (70,000 sq ft) incubator for startup's based on a public/private partnership between the government of Telangana and premier academic institutions that played a crucial role in latest developments.

"There are 800 start-ups that have housed themselves in T-Hub. The government plans to come up with a phase-II and -III of T-Hub in the state. The focus of the state is to create a start-up ecosystem. If the trend continues in the next few years, Telangana might just take over Karnataka as the start-up hub in southern India," said Vanitha Datla, chairperson, Confederation of Indian Industry, Telangana.

In April, the state unveiled its new information and communication technology policy through which it plans to double IT exports over the next five years. Under the policy, the government said it would develop a million square feet of work space dedicated to start-ups over the next five years, of which 300,000 sq ft of space would be used to develop phase-II of T-Hub.