Sridhar Babu announces tech initiatives to help farmers, students
Hyderabad: IT and industries minister D. Sridhar Babu on Sunday announced that BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad, would establish a Centre for Research Excellence in National Security (CRENS) in the city, which would play a pivotal role in supporting India’s journey towards self-reliance in the national security domain.
The centre will collaborate with organisations such as DRDO, ISRO, DAE, tri-services, paramilitary forces, police, state-run defence companies and private companies, he said.
Taking part in a programme to announce major investments, Sridhar Babu said that T-Works and CRENS were formalising a collaboration that would drive innovation and skill development in national security technologies.
Sridhar Babu also announced the launch of agriculture data exchange (ADeX), a one-stop gateway for innovators, start-ups, and stakeholders. It has immense applications including in smart agri-credit and finance, soil nutrient management advisories, pest and weather-based cropping advisories and digitisation of farm records.
The minister announced a collaboration between HDFC Bank and ADeX, which will focus on smart agri-credit. HDFC will provide loans of up to Rs 1 lakh to small and marginal farmers using authentic datasets available on the ADeX platform. This initiative will ensure quick, easy, and timely credit access, empowering farmers across Telangana.
To address substance abuse among the youth and students, Sridhar Babu said that the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB), in partnership with the ITE&C department and the start-up ‘United We Care’ had developed an innovative AI-based tool. This WhatsApp-based chat application enables behavioral assessment of students, providing teachers and parents with a powerful mechanism to detect and prevent substance abuse early.
Following a successful pilot, the Telangana government is now scaling up the application to reach 1,000 schools in and around Hyderabad.
Sridhar Babu announced that a number of companies had come forward to announce their major investments on Praja Palana Vijayotsavalu, totalling Rs 7,592 crore that would provide employment to 5,200 persons.
In the electronics and energy storage sector, Premier Energies will announce Rs 1,950 crore investment to manufacture solar ingots and set up an aluminium plant. Premier Energies Global Environment Pvt Ltd has come forward to invest Rs 3,342 crore to set up 4GW Solar PV TOP Con Cell and 4 GW Solar PV TOP Con Module. This company will create employment to 1,000 members.
In the aerospace and defence sectors, Azad Engineering is willing to invest Rs 300 crore in phase-I and another Rs 500 crore in Phase 2 to set up a superalloy manufacturing plant, which will employ 600 members.
In the general sector, Lenskart will invest Rs 1,500 crore to manufacture eyewear products. This plant will generate employment to 2,100 members.