With the Indian Start-up Ecosystem witnessing an unprecedented surge in investments, Andhra Pradesh government aims to make the State rise on the Global Start-up .
In this direction, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has recently launched the “Integrated Risk Guarantee Scheme for Support to Public Private Partnerships in Creating World-Class Technology Business Incubators (TBI).” Under this scheme, the government plans to create five world-class incubators with Rs 750 crore investment over the next four years.
This scheme is innovative and envisages a PPP model of implementation with Infrastructure Creation, Incubator Creation and Seed Funding of Start-ups all under one roof to eliminate red-tape in project implementation and make it start-up-friendly with quick clearances. The scheme is modeled on the Israel’s pro-active plans in early ‘90s, which have catapulted Israel into major global start-up hub.
The total investment will bring 500,000 Sq Ft of incubation infrastructure across Andhra Pradesh creating a density that would create a mini silicon coast as the first core cluster of a startup ecosystem. Areas targeted are futurist technologies like Mobile-Internet, Internet of Things, Social Media, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC), Electronics, Fabless Semiconductors etc. The selection process is open throughout the year and non exclusive.
Currently, the major incubators in India are mini–incubators, in terms of capital and planned with an outlay of Rs 5 crore for a 5-year period, the government of AP has come forward with a blueprint of five world-class incubators with each incubator being planned with a cost of Rs. 150 crore and will be executed for a period of 15 years.
“Our long-term vision is to create a new entrepreneurial civilisation by integrating ‘Make in India, Skill India and Digital India’ to create a Start-up India. Creation of employment, knowledge and wealth in India through start-ups is our priority . I want our youth to not just be job seekers but also job creators” the Chief Minister said. Andhra Pradesh is the first State in India to create an ‘Innovation and Start-up Policy’ with an intention to create a world-class startup ecosystem and encourage a culture of innovation. (NSS)