Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu called upon industrialists, corporate leaders, professors, and intellectuals to contribute to the development of the ‘Ratan Tata Innovation Hub’ and help realise the vision of ‘One Family-One Entrepreneur.’

He stressed that Andhra Pradesh should emerge as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, attracting significant investments to drive economic growth. Highlighting the significance of the initiative, he stated that the Innovation Hub is named after Ratan Tata to inspire excellence.

During a high-profile meeting at the Secretariat here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister discussed the strategic roadmap for the Innovation Hub with leading industrialists and academicians. Tata Group and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, who also serves as the vice chairman of the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub (RTIH), participated in the meeting via video conference along with other distinguished personalities.

Chandrababu expressed pride in the fact that 30 per cent of Indian entrepreneurs abroad are Telugu-speaking individuals, many of whom earn more than their foreign counterparts. He attributed this success to the reforms introduced during his first tenure as Chief Minister, which laid the foundation for entrepreneurial growth.

He recalled how CII summits, the establishment of engineering colleges, and attracting major tech companies like Microsoft transformed Hyderabad into an IT hub. Now, he aims to replicate this success by making Amaravati a global Quantum Valley.

The CM announced that the state government aimed to establish 20,000 startups over the next five years, creating one lakh jobs and setting up 10 Centres of Excellence. “Amaravati will be the epicenter of the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub, with Tata Group as the lead partner, while L&T and AMNS will act as key stakeholders,” he added.

The Innovation Hub will be supported by five regional spokes across Andhra Pradesh:

The RTIH will include various facilities such as startup incubators, MSME facilitation centers, banking linkages, training programs, venture capital funding, high-performance computing infrastructure, market linkages, raw material sourcing support, prototyping centres, testing tracks, and high-speed internet access, he explained.

Referring to his earlier initiative, ‘One Family-One IT Professional’, he noted how it had positively impacted many families. He stressed that geographical distance is no longer a barrier in today’s digital world and stated that AP is moving from ‘Ease of Doing Business’ to ‘Speed of Doing Business’.

The Chief Minister said the recently launched ‘Zero Poverty-P4 Programme’ an upgraded version of the earlier P3 initiative, which had helped several families achieve economic stability. He urged wealthy individuals to support the underprivileged.

He said that the ‘One Family-One Entrepreneur’ and Zero Poverty-P4 initiatives received widespread appreciation from business leaders attending the meeting. BITS Pilani vice-chancellor V Ramagopal Rao announced that a BITS Pilani campus would be set up in Amaravati, with the first batch of students expected next year.

GMR Group chairman G.M. Rao confirmed plans to establish a GMR IT Innovation Center in Visakhapatnam.