Govt sets up hub to promote tech innovation, startups

Union minister for IT and electronics Ravi Shankar Prasad officially inaugurated the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) during the MeitY Startup Summit 2019 in New Delhi today.

MSH will promote technology innovation, startups and the creation of intellectual properties, an official statement said.

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an organisation under the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), has been assigned the task of implementing MSH.

STPI has signed four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Intel India, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, Pontaq and IBM to promote innovation in information and communications technology during the MeitY Startup Summit 2019. STPI has also created 28 centres of excellence in emerging technologies. 

The MoUs have been signed for promoting entrepreneurship and create a nurturing ecosystem for STPI CoEs in areas such as digital and mobile payments, blockchain, IoT, Big Data and other emerging technologies.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, a technology business incubator under the central government’s department of science & technology, has been roped in as a knowledge partner for providing expertise in the call for application, screening, onboarding and review of startups across STPI CoEs. 

The ministry has appointed entrepreneur Deepak Agarwal to head the platform, The Economic Times reported earlier this week. He has been entrusted with the task of setting up a team to run the platform. 

MSH will operate as a common link for all the different startup initiatives including government-sponsored incubation and accelerator programmes in the country.

The initiative saw semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company Qualcomm India inking a partnership with MSH recently.

Qualcomm signed an agreement with MSH to bring the benefits of its Qualcomm Design in India challenge programme for startups.