Kerala CM inaugurates Digital Hub; aims to have 15K start-ups in next 5 yrs

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has inaugurated "Digital Hub" with a capacity to support 200 start-ups via video conferencing, said a press release from Chief Minister's Office.

The project is completed at Kalamassery in Ernakulam district.

While inaugurating the Digital Hub, the chief minister said it is a significant step forward in the IT industry of Kerala. The Integrated Start-up Complex, India's largest incubation facility, was set up two years ago in the Technology Innovation Zone. At that time its capacity was two lakh square feet. Along with this, a digital hub with a capacity of two lakh square feet also is getting operational. Thus the facilities here have grown to a total of four lakh square feet. With this, the technology innovation zone is becoming the largest start-up space in Southeast Asia.

We can see some indications that government interventions in the startup sector are becoming fruitful.

"Five years ago, there were 300 start-ups in Kerala, but today there are 3,900. At least 35,000 jobs have been created through this. Kerala is moving towards the target of 15,000 start-ups in the next five years. For this, the government is preparing a centralized start-up park system. In addition, Innovation Technology labs and incubators will be set up across the state," said CM Vijayan.

Kerala Bank, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), Kerala Finance Corporation (KFC)and Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) have jointly proposed to set up a venture capital fund of Rs 250 crore to promote start-ups. If any start-ups attract investment from outside, matching investment will be made from this fund.

Similarly, loans up to Rs 1 crore without collateral security will be made available for the expansion of start-ups which will help the government achieve its development goals in other sectors.

"The government will form a scheme to link start-ups with the international industrial and commercial network and to this end, the activities of the Start-up Mission will be expanded to the international level," the CM said.