- The Centre has begun groundwork to deliver a major poll promise of 100 innovation zones across India.
- The innovation centres would be linked to Smart City Mission.The first 100 cities chosen through a competitive process would house one innovation centre each.
- The Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) has entrusted the work to Niti Aayog, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
- The innovation centres would be used as tinkering laboratories to solve urban issues including traffic congestion,mosquito breeding,stray dog menace or pollution due to local industries.
- Each urban local body would flag an issue and the idea would be thrown open to entrepreneurs to come and suggest a solution.This would be done through the innovation zone or centre.
- The government also wants the innovation centres to act as lighthouse projects.If an experiment is successful in one centre,it could be shared on a common platform for replication in other cities with similar issues.
Centre begins groundwork for 100 innovation centres
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