Mumbai: Youth research and Maharashtra's growing startup ecosystem will help the state emerge as a global innovation hub, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.
Addressing the fourth edition of 'The Governance Challenge' organised by the Gates Foundation and Samagra at NCPA here, Fadnavis said Maharashtra had become the country's startup capital in terms of the number of startups as well as their implementation.
"Maharashtra's strength and the research of its youth will certainly make it a global innovation hub in the future," he said, adding that the state government intends to transform Maharashtra into India's innovation capital and one of the world's leading innovation hubs for intelligent young minds.
Fadnavis said the competition was not merely an event but an initiative to identify talent and ideas that could shape Maharashtra's and the country's future administrative system.
The government wanted to bring new-generation ideas into governance in artificial intelligence, data analysis, digital governance, urbanisation, agriculture, health, education, climate change and innovation, he added.
Fadnavis said young researchers from all parts of Maharashtra, including Nagpur, Nashik, Kolhapur, Nanded and Amravati, should get access to mentors, technology, incubation facilities and markets.
"The entire innovation chain, from an idea in a classroom to a global company, and from an idea to actual implementation and global expansion, is being developed in Maharashtra," he said.
He said the success of a hackathon should not end with the distribution of certificates, but should result in actual implementation of the ideas.
Maharashtra accounts for 18 per cent of the country's startups and has more than 30,000 startups, the chief minister said.
"The government is developing 'M-Hub' as the state's first dedicated startup incubator, while an 'Innovation City' focused on artificial intelligence and advanced technologies will be developed on 300 acres in Navi Mumbai," he added.
Under the Maharashtra Artificial Intelligence Policy 2026, two lakh youths and professionals will be trained and AI incubators will be set up to promote research, Fadnavis said, adding that the state has set a target of becoming a USD 1 trillion economy by 2030 and a USD 2 trillion economy by 2035.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
