Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that the central government will identify and promote 75 innovative Start-Ups in the 75th year of India’s Independence.
Jitendra Singh’s announcement about the promotion of innovative Start-Ups came while inaugurating the advanced 650 teraflops supercomputing facility at National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) at Mohali, Punjab, on Tuesday.
Jitendra Singh who also holds the responsibility of Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, the Supercomputing facility “will act as a facilitator for these Start-ups working in areas like Telemedicine, Digital Health, mHealth with BIG Data.”
The Minister said that the 75 Best Chosen Start-ups will be an asset for India to lead the country in the next 25 years, during the celebrations of the Centenary of India’s Independence.
Speaking about NABI, Jitendra Singh said, the facility had come up under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) in collaboration with C-DAC, Pune. “This high-end facility will be a boon for the analysis of BIG DATA accruing from the large-scale genomics, functional genomics, structural genomics, and population studies being carried out at various Institutes and universities of national and international repute,” the Minister said.
Set up at an approximate cost of Rs 20 crores, the 650 teraflops supercomputing facility will be a unique one as it will cater to the needs of the interdisciplinary cutting-edge research being carried out at the Institute related to Agricultural and Nutritional Biotechnology, Singh said
The Minister further said that the facility would also be available for the scientists of NABI and Centre of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB) and will be open to collaborative work for the scientists/faculties working in the neighboring institutes/universities and for the projects sanctioned under NSM.
Jitendra Singh later launched two digital working platforms i.e. NABI-Labify and e-Office at NABI & CIAB under the ‘Digital India’ Initiative. NABI Labify is a unique software that facilitates the live tracking of funds, which are sanctioned for the purchase of equipment, consumables, manpower, extramural projects, etc.
The Union Minister also inaugurated i-RISE, Technology Business Incubator (TBI) at Mohali. He said that it would provide world-class research facilities for start-ups in the country. He said, with the formation of this Technology Business Incubator, the city of Mohali will join the league of other Start-up hubs in the country like Bengaluru and Gurugram.
Jitender Singh further expressed the hope that TBI would become successful and end up becoming the Unicorn Start-up, adding to the ever-growing list of Unicorn start-ups from India. Currently, India has 51 Unicorn Startups (3rd Highest in the world), he added, a ministry note quoting the Union Minister said.