THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will set up two new IT parks to boost the startup ecosystem in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. He was inaugurating the Startup Infinity programme under the aegis of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in Dubai on Sunday.
"The government is in the process of setting up IT corridors in stretches such as Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam in the south, Alappuzha-Ernakulam and Ernakulam-Koratty in the centre, and Kozhikode-Kannur up north. Land acquisition is on for these projects.
Besides IT, the sectors that can woo startups are agriculture and culture," Vijayan said. He also pointed out that Kerala's startups will generate 20,000 jobs during the current fiscal with the opening of the first-ever Infinity Centre. With Startup Middle East selected as the Infinity Centre's partner in the UAE, a pact to this effect was signed between the Dubai-headquartered platform's founder Sibi Sudhakaran and KSUM CEO Anoop Ambika.
The CM, noting that a "startup culture" in Kerala is changing the attitude of the state's youth from job-seekers to job-givers, said the trend has been strengthening the ecosystem of up-and-coming firms. He said the IT Department is engaged in finding ways best to use the changed attitude among the new generation.
Vijayan also said that the UAE provides "considerable" support to Kerala's efforts to link with other economies through the Infinity Centres that aim to explore foreign markets for the state's startups by helping non-resident Indians become entrepreneurs through KSUM.
The Chief Minister said the international laurels Kerala has won in the startup sector could translate into cooperation from NRIs to strengthen the state's ecosystem further. This will enable them to run companies through a plug-and-play collaboration with KSUM's Infinity centres. All the same, these launch pads can enable the state's startups to receive investments from abroad and widen their domain.
Anoop Ambika said the new Infinity Centre would be a success only if the infrastructure is put to use. "We need to have a meaningful intervention. In that, the role of the Indian diaspora is very important," he pointed out.
The proposal for Infinity Centres sprang up in the context of NRIs totalling 3.2 crore, topping India in the global list of hosting the largest migrant citizens. Adding about $78 billion in remittance to the Indian economy, they play a huge role in the development of India. This launch pad will act as a global desk in select countries where the NRI community can engage, co-create and set up businesses - either in their resident country or in India.