T-Hub, dubbed as the country’s largest technology incubator, is open for talented entrepreneurs from across the country, and not just from Telangana, said K.T. Rama Rao, Telangana’s information technology minister, even as the government said it will not “poke its nose” in the operations of the facility.
“This is not for Telangana techies alone but to attract major talent from across the country,” Rao said on Monday during a media tour of the facility. “T-Hub is open for everybody.”
Some entrepreneurs, especially from coastal Andhra, have expressed apprehensions that the government would selectively encourage entrepreneurs from the newly-created state of Telangana at T-Hub. But Rao said that was not the case.
“The government will not poke its nose into the day-to-day affairs of T-Hub,” the minister said. There will be no special requests from the government to consider any company. Start-ups will be chosen solely based on the merit of their idea by a panel consisting of T-Hub’s chief executive officer and others.
The government will be represented by its information technology (IT) secretary who will be on the board of T-Hub. The board, like any other board, will be responsible for overseeing the organization, making policy decisions, and giving direction, Rao said.
T-Hub will be managed by a set of executives that includes CEO Jay Krishnan and chief operating officer Srinivas Kollipara, who have experience of working within the start-up ecosystem.
“We wanted it to be as un-government like as possible,” said Rao. “I don’t think entrepreneurs can thrive in a government-like environment.”
T-Hub will be “completely autonomous” and “free spirited” just the way entrepreneurs in a free-market economy prefer, Rao added.
