100 innovation hubs in India by 2017: Pitroda

To encourage school children to explore scientific discoveries, 100 innovation hubs would be established throughout the country by 2017.
These hubs would be set up in Science Centres at an outlay of Rs 99 crore, Sam Pitroda, Chairman of National Innovation Council told reporters today.
He was speaking on the sidelines of inaugurating an Innovation Hub at the National Science Centre here.
"We are planning to launch 100 Innovation Hubs in Science Centres by 2017 at an outlay of Rs 99 crore. These hubs would be established with the support of the Planning Commission and Ministry of Culture," he said.

Pitroda, who is also adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, emphasised on schools creating their own innovation labs.
"The school principals and science teachers will have to take the lead...It is not very expensive," he said.

The Innovation Club in Delhi is the third such facility in the country after Bangalore and Kolkata. It is equipped with multimedia kits, tech lab for robotics and microprocessor programming.
Students are provided facilities for opening gadgets and reassembling them on their own. In addition, children are encouraged to identify real-life problems, investigate projects and work for solutions under the guidance of experts.

Earlier, in his address, G S Rautela, Director General of National Council of Science Museums, said Guwahati and Mumbai would soon have similar innovations hubs.