Hyderabad is all set to be the breeding ground of entrepreneurs and start-ups, and the government is up in arms. Terming Telangana as a start-up state, IT Minister KT Rama Rao has said that Hyderabad will be known as the start-up capital of India, in the coming years.

At the CeBIT India 2015 inaugural ceremony on Thursday, KTR said, “Young India is no longer content with being called the back office of the world. Today, the situation is changing. Indian youngsters and young India is not content in being known as the back office of the world. There is a lot of entrepreneurial zeal, there is a lot of enthusiasm among young Indians to do better and to actually compete with the rest of the world.”

Calling his new state the “startup state,” he said: “We take a lot of pride in calling ourselves the startup state. We are the youngest state in India. We operate with the mindset of a startup.” To make Hyderabad as the startup capital of India, Telangana government has launched two ambitious programmes – the THUB and Telangana Academy of Skill and Knowledge (TASK).

On Friday, at T-Hub’s Catalyst building on the IIIT campus at Gachibowli, KTR announced that the 70,000-sft energy-efficient building would be inaugurated by Governor ESL Narasimhan and veteran industrialist Ratan Tata. “This is not a building. It is an ecosystem, an incubator of incubators. Representatives from giants like Google, Microsoft, Nasscom and various incubators of universities will co-exist here. It is the first-of-its-kind government initiative and it is not for profit,” said KT Rama Rao.

Speaking to the media, KTR said, “The motto would be ‘Walk in with an idea, walk out with a product.”  Admitting that the failure rate of start-up companies was quite high, he claimed that materialisation of a few ideas or concepts would generate employment for several thousands of youth.

In a complete public-private partnership model of incubation, experts from the city’s ISB will provide the business mentorship whereas technology experts from the IIT-Hyderabad and the IIIT-Hyderabad will meet technology-related intellectual needs of the start-up firms. Further, the city’s Nalsar University of Law will provide support regarding intellectual property, legal and patent rights.

Speaking about the cost dynamics, the minister said the whole cost was borne by the government. “The government is bearing the expenditure initially, but it wants the T-Hub to be self-reliant. We will be opening T-Hub franchises across the globe,” he said and promised an Internet speed of 1 GB per second.

As many as 150 start-ups have been screened from over 800 applicants. Based on their need, be it a fixed desk or a flexible desk in the building, they will be paying a rent of Rs 6,000 and Rs 4,500 respectively. The building’s seating capacity is over 900. In the second phase, the state government will develop another campus at Raidurgam adjacent to the upcoming Gaming City. “This is a 70,000 sqft. building but the one at Raidurgam would have office space of 3 lakh sqft. It will be ready in three years. The aim is to have a USD 100-million fund for the T-Hub and set up Hyderabad as the start-up capital of India,” KTR said.