IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao opened up opportunities for innovators among engineering students and said the government would be the first customer and enabler for their innovative ideas.
Referring to government initiatives like T-Hub, We-Hub, T-Works, and TASK, he said the TRS government is pro-innovation and any student with an idea could use the facilities and walk out with a new product or an enterprise. “The government will mentor the innovators apart from creating funding opportunities,” he said.
He was addressing the students and participants at an international conference on Innovations in Engineering and Technology organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU-H).
Mr. Rao said innovators should find inspiration from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and think big like him. He asked the university officials to arrange a visit for engineering students to Kaleshwaram project.
He said KCR believes in innovation and for a fledgling State like Telangana he had in 2015 itself come up with the TS-iPASS that cuts red-tapism and delays in permissions for entrepreneurs and businessmen. Anyone can start a business with a self-certification of complying with the laws and norms needed for starting a business. He said the atmosphere in Telangana was ripe for job creators, innovators and disruptors rather than the job seekers.
Recalling his meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ‘How to create new India’ on the eve of 75 years of Independence, he said his argument for the country’s development was the “I” mantra - innovation, infrastructure and inclusive growth.
Mr. Rao also found fault with a party’s obsession with Pakistan and Bangladesh and said China went way ahead of India as it always compared itself with developed nations like USA., Australia and Germany. He said in 1986-87, both India and China had $470 billion economy. After 35 years, China surged ahead with $16 trillion economy while India is at $3.4 trillion.
