State-owned research and development organisation C-DOT has a corpus of over Rs 700 crore for funding start-ups, but the government has kept no limit to funding innovation, a top official of the entity said on Thursday.
Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the Regional Innovation Forum, C-DOT chief executive officer and chairman of C-DOT Project Board Rajkumar Upadhyay said that a number of delegations of ministers from neighboring countries at the forum have expressed interest in technological collaboration with India, which will help in expansion of indigenous innovation beyond the country's boundary.
"We have various schemes of government to fund innovation. Some of these schemes are available through C-DoT. Through them, we have a corpus of Rs 700 crore to fund start-ups, but there is no limit of funds if we find the right innovation," Upadhyay said.
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The delegation of communications ministers from Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Iran, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh visited the C-DoT campus.
The campus now also houses the Area Office and Innovation Centre of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
"We have set up our innovation centre next to the ITU office. This will provide startups with all the infrastructure required for operation as well as provide access to a test beds for 5G. We will take the technologies developed by startups to other parts of the world under the umbrella of ITU," Upadhyay said.