Andhra Pradesh will be the first State in the country to have a ‘startup policy’ to promote a wide range of small technology firms. The policy will be unveiled soon even as the proposed Startup Village is expected to come up at the IT Incubation Tower in Visakhapatnam in a month.
Details of the proposed Startup Village figured during a meeting that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had on Wednesday with Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of the Startup Village, Kochi, and senior Andhra Pradesh government officials.
With the government planning to create 5,000 startups in the next five years, sources said Andhra Pradesh was keen to partner with Mr. Sanjay and his team in creating the required ecosystem. “Our innovation and startup policy is getting ready,” sources added. While Visakhapatnam is the first choice, other places are also being considered.
Speaking to The Hindu , Vjiayakumar said: “We will bring the whole startup model to Andhra Pradesh.” Describing the Startup Village in Kochi as a “unique experience”, he said it was jointly started by the company founded by him - MobME Wireless Solutions Ltd - Government of India and the Government of Kerala. He said 650-odd incubators and 250 campus startups were now functioning in Kochi. “We can do it much faster here as we have the experience,” he added.
While the Kochi Startup Village is limited to mobile and internet technologies, the one proposed in Andhra Pradesh will have incubators in many areas, including aerospace and electronics.
Mr. Vijayakumar said there were less than 100 incubators in the country at present, while at least 1,000 were needed. Incidentally, the Chief Minister told him that he was impressed with the Kochi model and was keen to implement a similar one in Andhra Pradesh. “We have created the blueprint on how to build local innovation ecosystem. The Chief Minister wants to implement this blueprint in Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
He added that the Chief Minister had also told him that a world-class infrastructure would be created in the State, and that top priority would be given to the setting up of the Startup Village. He said Mr. Naidu was keen to tap local talent and build entrepreneurial skills among youth and students in the State so that they become job creators instead of job seekers. Interestingly, the Chief Minister wants to create a world-class ecosystem to enable companies in the State to compete with those in the Silicon Valley.
