Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services of Tamil Nadu, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan highlighted the state government's dedication to implementing its philosophy of equitable access and social justice within the start-up and innovation ecosystem.
Addressing the valedictory session of an International Confluence Conference on Startups and Innovation, hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras’ (IIT Madras) Centre for Research on Startups and Risk Financing (CREST), Thiagarajan reportedly stated, "We have targeted funds for SC/ST entrepreneurs and women, and with all our training programmes, we are geared to those parts of the community that do not get access to equal education opportunities."
According to The Hindu, he further stated that he had visited the IIT Madras Research Park several times and had been impressed with the innovation and incubation ecosystem that existed there.
He also mentioned that he had found the other side of the equation, namely, research and thought leadership on the Indian ecosystem, to be very strong. Acknowledging the significance of financing in the start-up narrative, he expressed his congratulations to IIT Madras for having the foresight to set up something like CREST.
Reflecting on Tamil Nadu's achievements, Thiagarajan asserted, "In Tamil Nadu, we have a decent track record that should be the envy of many states. Part of that is built on our century-long history of focus on education and creation of the kind of human talent and human capital that is capable of benefiting from the waves of new technology, from the opening up of global markets, from opportunities that come up as a function of disruptive or transformative changes in the industry"
