RTIH launched along with five regional hubs- Naidu's innovation hub project receives a pat from Tata Group top brass

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday launched Rata Tata Innovation Hub (RTIH) here with five spoke models in Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada-Guntur, Tirupati and Anantapur.

Spread over 50,000 sft built-up area at Mayuri Tech Park at Mangalagiri, the hub aims to become a nerve centre for spread of AI, deep-tech, sustainable solutions and inclusive innovations. It is expected to promote the quantum valley project for which the State has tied up with TCS, IBM and L&T and attract global talent and investments in emerging technologies and cutting-edge R&D activity. The spoke models were also launched virtually from Amaravati.

The hub is envisioned as the world's best startup centre to meet the innovation needs of various countries in various domains. The hub is expected to serve as a platform for new and emerging technologies with a robust ecosystem for the startups. The Quantum Valley project is envisaged to position Andhra Pradesh as the leader in benchmarking innovation-led economies.

Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, thanked Chief Minister Naidu for naming the innovation hub after Ratan Tata and promised wholehearted support to make the 'unique and historic' project a grand success. He hailed the launching of five regional centres virtually and praised the vision of Naidu for development and recalled how he ushered in the IT revolution in Hyderabad during his stint as Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh.

In the past 14 months, he has taken up a number of initiatives like healthcare and quantum computing . He said the Tata Group is committed to take part in the development activities steered in Andhra Pradesh and described the plans to spread the RTIH digitally to all over the world. "Innovation is a culture. Naidu wants to make innovation inclusive by bringing all the industries and business leaders together to champion innovation culture from multiple locations," Natarajan remarked.

Stating that the hub has been named after visionary industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata as a tribute, Naidu said during his interactions with the stalwart, he was impressed with his simplicity and passion to develop the nation and serve the communities from the profits earned by him. He said when he introduced IT in Hyderabad in a big way in the mid-90s, his call was to generate an IT employee from each family when everyone had wondered how it was possible when there was no bandwidth. He said now due to the advancement, he is hopeful of producing one entrepreneur from each family.

Naidu said Ratan Tata believed in creating wealth, providing job opportunities and to serve the communities through Tata Trusts, the CSR arm of Tata Group. He recalled how when he was the Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh, Ratan Tata ji had come forward to develop Falakanam Palace into one of the leading heritage hotels in the world.

The Chief Minister said he had asked GMR Group to take the lead in Visakhapatnam RTIH, while MEIL has been entrusted with the responsibility of taking the lead in Vijayawada, Greenko in Rajahmundry, Adani Group in Tirupati and JIndal company in Anantapur RTIH.

Naidu said in 11 years, India rose from 11th largest economy to the fourth position and is all set to become the third largest economy due to progressive policies being pursued by the NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the double engine sarkar is firm in accelerating development in Andhra Pradesh through its innovative approach and strategies and called for creating wealth on one hand and serving the communities to remove poverty on the other..