On June 28, when doors to the second phase of T-Hub were formally opened the technology startup incubator got a permanent address and Telangana a pride of place.
With a built-up space of 5.82 lakh sq ft, the 10-storied cantilever structure developed in the IT hub of State capital Hyderabad is the world’s largest incubator, going past Station F of Paris. Funded from the State Budget, the ₹400- crore facility carries forward the Telangana government’s emphasis on achieving scale with new projects.
Be it the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project to bring more land under cultivation or the ambitious Pharma City proposed near Hyderabad, the State has gained a reputation of thinking big. The new facility is a part of the world’s largest innovation campus coming up on 18 acres. As neighbours, the incubator will have two more projects conceived by the State government – maker lab T-Works and a 1.6 million sq. ft. IMAGE Tower that will house entities focused on work in the areas of multimedia, animation, gaming and entertainment.
The innovation campus will have a total of 2.3 million sq. ft. built-up space and is set to take shape over next 18-24 months, State IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao said after his father and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao dedicated the T-Hub facility to young Indians. “If they propose to build an innovative startup, we will provide them with a collaborative innovation ecosystem,” the Chief Minister declared.
Rising aspirations, especially of the youth, imperative to plan for future and the advantage of being a young State are behind the approach of Telangana. Referred to as a startup State often, Many of Telangana’s projects and programmes, along with policy measures, have helped catch eyeballs across the country. They also strengthened its case for the Central government sanctioning a rail coach factory, that it had promised and sanction defence industrial corridor and bullet train projects to the State.
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Changed equations between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), particularly after a by-poll and refusal of the Centre to procure more than the specified quantum of paddy, have given a new purpose to the development projects implemented in the State. They are bound to aid the TRS as the party considers taking up a national role and forging a non-Congress, non-BJP front ahead of the next general elections.
Thus, when the CM said that the incubator has emerged as a national role model, the message was not lost.
Launched in 2015, T-Hub soon morphed from just being a plug and play space provider into an innovation ecosystem enabler, devising programmes for the startups, connecting them with other players globally and most importantly emerging as a platform for the entrepreneurs to access venture capital, government schemes and mentoring services. The first phase, a 70,000 sq ft facility at the IIIT-Hyderabad, helped over 2,000 entrepreneurs besides playing a role in $1.19 billion raised in funding by the startups.
With opening of the second phase, Hyderabad has conveyed intent to consolidate the gains. Aiding the process would be the State government measures to improve ease of doing business and the cosmopolitan outlook of Hyderabad. Much would depend on how startups respond since Bengaluru, the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai-Pune region are ahead, primarily by virtue of being early movers and backed by a strong ecosystem.
The burgeoning startup culture, emergence of unicorns (startups valued more than $1 billion) and the challenges for which a solution can be found using technology, however, has ensured there is space for all players. As a Nasscom official puts it the capacity available to host startups now is less than the opportunity.
Given the comparably robust infrastructure, cosmopolitan nature of Hyderabad and the image of a proactive government, Telangana is likely to build on those strengths. In doing so, something Mr. Rama Rao also sought to highlight, the State would like more startups to succeed, remain sustainable as an enterprise and look at long term than just achieve higher valuation. By way of numbers, T-Hub is aiming to support 20,000 startups in the next five years.
ravikumar.n@thehindu.co.in
