Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Wednesday said there were many start-ups which had immediate applications for problems the government was grappling with.
At a virtual conference on ‘R&D as an engine of growth of Tamil Nadu’, organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said it was important to promote start-ups as there were many problems that were unique to the State.
Pitching for collaboration between the State Government and start-ups, Mr. Rajan said the government should encourage people by giving them more problem statements and scenarios where it had the intent but did not have the tools or the technology to resolve them, and call them for developing solutions.
Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu pointed out that if the State had to reach the target of a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and $100 billion in exports, it could not be complacent with the current level of R&D. “We need to create high-value employment and export-worthy and environmentally sustainable products. Strengthening R&D is critical,” he said.
Industries Secretary S. Krishnan said there was a need to create more value-added jobs in the State, and one of the most potent areas where this could happen was R&D.
Raghuram Rajan, Member, Economic Advisory Council, Government of Tamil Nadu, said the State should focus on creating an ecosystem conducive for R&D. He said several members of the diaspora were looking to come back here, and the government should bring them back in some areas. It should invite foreign universities to set up a base here, which would help in upgrading home-grown talent.
