STPI incubation centre will boost IT sector in Surat: Prasad

SURAT:Union minister of electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has urged IT startups in Surat in particular and Gujarat in general to develop innovative digital products for effective monitoring of governance in various departments.
Prasad was speaking at the inauguration of Software Technology Parks of India's (STPI) incubation centre here on Saturday.
Talking with reporters after the event, Prasad said, "A mobile application will be launched in January 2017 for safety of women. A special red button will be operationalized in the mobile once the app is downloaded on the smartphone, allowing women facing problems to send a distress call. The call will alert nearest police station, family members and relatives."
Prasad informed that the Diamond City is first in Gujarat to have an incubation centre at Bhestan which will act as a resource for IT/ITES units by offering general infrastructural facilities like ready to use incubation facility, high speed data communication (HSDC) with uninterrupted data connectivity and other amenities required for export of software and services. "A similar incubation centre will soon be opened in Bhavnagar as well," he added.
STPI, an organization under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has seen a stupendous growth in exports by STP units from Rs52 crore in 1992-93 to over Rs3 lakh crore in 2015-16.
"We want to be physically and digitally connected. It's our dream to make India the world leader in digital space. In the last two years, around 50 mobile phone manufacturing companies have set up units in India and around 11 crore mobile phones will be manufactured in the next one-and-a-half-years," said Prasad.
He said out of 125 crore population, there are 103 crore mobile phone users, 103 crore Aadhar card holders and 40 crore internet users in the country. Last year, IT exports from India were pegged at Rs8 lakh crore and that the sector employs 10 lakh people directly and 30 lakh people indirectly.
Asked how the digital dream will be fulfilled without proper air connectivity from Surat, Prasad said, "Surat is an important destination in the country and it is the fastest growing economy. The government is equally concerned about air connectivity. I promise that the Diamond City will have proper air connectivity by 2017."