HYDERABAD: Aiming at improving its national ranking among startup ecosystems in the country, the State government is contemplating setting up a fund that can help startups. Speaking at the National Startup Conclave at IIIT Hyderabad on Saturday, Principal Secretary, IT and Commerce department, Jayesh Ranjan said funding by State governments was part of the criteria that the Central government judges startup ecosystems in each State.
Ranjan also claimed that the second phase of T-Hub, on which the State government is investing Rs 300 crore, will be the world’s largest incubator and that it will start functioning by the end of this year.
Speaking at the conclave, T-Hub CEO Ravi Narayan said that there are 4,000 startups in Telangana, contributing to around 15-20 per cent of the overall startups in India and that they are growing at a rate of more than 30 per cent on a yearly basis, whereas the growth in the country is 15-20 per cent.
Narayan added, “Telangana has more than 50 incubators and accelerators that support startups. There are around 300 to 400 MNCs operating in Telangana. About 30 to 40 per cent are directly or indirectly associated with the startup ecosystem.”
Speaking on the State government’s initiative of procuring products from homegrown startups, Ranjan said, “If you have products or services relevant to the government, we will procure goods and services from you by way of bilateral understanding without going through the cumbersome procurement policy.”
He added, “Right now we are evaluating 15 to 20 products and services for procurement.”
The conclave witnessed participation by around six hundred persons, including investors, startups and government officials from 23 cities across India.