THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala will host a two-day summit for venture capital fund with the theme “Financing the Knowledge Economy in Kerala” beginning Monday.
The summit, organized by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) and the IT Department, government of Kerala, the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and Technopark, aims at creating a common platform for the industry including IT, ITES, biotechnology, bioinformatics, tourism and others to network with the leading national and international venture capital firms.
“The summit will have session on the opportunities for Kerala in the global venture capital industry, session on venture capital funding in the IT/ITES industry,” GTECH CEO Binu Sankar said. “A special session on Kerala’s efforts to become the country’s IT hub and a holistic view of Kerala building global companies are also planned.” Speakers include Vinay L. Deshapande, founder chairman and CEO of Encore Software and Dr. Ajay Kumar, secretary, information technology, government of Kerala. “The summit aims at building positive economic perceptions on Kerala’s industry in general and the IT and ITES industry in particular, as a stable and enabling destination and highlight the success stories from Kerala. It will also enable direct contact between local companies and the venture capital funds to stimulate their growth,” he added.
•Portal for farmers launched:
The e-krishi program, which aims at bringing the benefits of information technology to farmers, is being extended to the northernmost Kasaragod district.
The project was launched by the State IT Mission and Akshaya initially in Malappuram district last year with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program.
The project helps farmers advertise their produce through its website www.e-krishi.org. Traders can publicize their needs through the site, which acts as a link between them and customers and producers.
The website also provides tips for profitable farming and daily weather reports of 330 localities in the state and prices in 54 local markets are published.
“The District Planning Committee had approved the project and 26 panchayats (local selfgovernments) had expressed willingness to implement it,” C.K. Peethambaran, former dean of Kerala Agriculture University and consultant of e-krishi program, said.
A study conducted by students of the Dhirubhai Ambani School of Management, Gujarat, has found that the project had helped farmers in Malappuram generate a profit of around Rs25 million a year.
The project envisages facilitating and enabling farmers and other stakeholders through agribusiness centers to interact with agricultural service providers in the private, government and nongovernment sectors.