In a meeting with District Collector Dilip Swami and ZP CEO Vikas Meena, the city industrialists demanded that the Software Technologies Park of India (STPI) Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) be established in the city for industrial growth.
A meeting chaired by Swami and Mina of the District Skill Committee where the necessity of establishing a CoE by STPI was discussed.
Swami assured that a proposal to establish a CoE by STPI will soon be sent to the Delhi office. The meeting was attended by Suresh Varade, District Planning Officer, Abhijit Alte, District Vocational Education and Training Officer, Ashish Garde, former chairman of CMIA and director of MAGIC, and representatives of various skill and training institutes of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Garde said, that through STPI, various cities in the country have developed IT parks. A software technology park was established in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 27 years ago. Given its proximity to metro cities like Pune and Mumbai, there is a need for significant investment in the field of information technology (IT/ITES) in cities like Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
There is a promising future in emerging sectors such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, fintech, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual Reality (AR/VR), drones, ESDM, data science and analytics, medical electronics and healthcare, gaming and animation, machine learning, and Cyber Security. To capitalize on this, the government has established 25 Centers of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) through STPI across the country, including two in Maharashtra. Through the state and central government, there is a demand to establish a theme-based CoE via STPI in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, in collaboration with CMIA and MAGIC.
National IT Policy 2024
In preparation for the formulation of the Information Technology Policy 2024 in the country, STPI and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently organised a brainstorming session in Pune. Key stakeholders and prominent figures from the industry were brought together for discussions on the Information Technology Policy framework. In this context, Ashish Garde, former president of the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) and Director of MAGIC, emphasised the need to establish a thematic CoE for skill development, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
CMIA president Arpit Save said, this initiative, in collaboration with STPI, the Maharashtra government and MeitY will serve as a growth engine for the region's development. Efforts are underway to create a special zone for IT and electronics companies in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (AURIC).
