T-Hub 2nd phase set for completion in mid-2020

Hyderabad: The much-delayed second phase of T-Hub, the startup incubator set up by the Telangana government, is expected to be operational by mid-2020, with the first set of startups moving into the new facility by March or April 2020, said Ravi Narayana, Chief Executive Officer, T-Hub.

"T-Hub Phase-2 is the next generation of first phase. Our vision for the second phase is to create an enabler of innovation ecosystem.

Hence, this building will be operational in stages, with the first batch of startups expected to move into this facility by March or April 2020," Ravi Narayan told The Hans India.

The government of newly-formed Telangana decided to focus on developing startup ecosystem. Thus, Hyderabad got its first innovative centre for startups in 2016, with the first phase of T-Hub getting operational.

It is spread over 70,000 sft and currently houses 170 startups. T-Hub Phase-2 is being established at Raidurgam in city's IT hub.

It is the second largest centre in the world for startups. It will provide 3.5 lakh sft of space for nearly 4,000 people. The largest startup business incubator in the world is Station F in Paris, it was opened in June 2017 and is built on 35,000 square meters (nearly 3.7 lakh sft).

"T-Hub has shed its image as a business incubator. The second phase will be known as a centre for startup innovation, corporate innovation and ecosystem innovation," said Narayan adding, "T-Hub Phase 2 will house 500-600 startups, industry partners like CII, and 50 corporations.

These entities will co-exist, interact and support each other to grow together. Corporates will have their own office, team, labs or centre of excellence.

Foreign representatives will introduce startups to foreign markets, and bring global startups to this facility."

Stating that T-Hub is not a co-working space, Narayan said, "startups have to qualify under three categories of programmes - incubation, acceleration and scaling.

Startups under incubation programme do not have to be sector-specific, but startups in the later stage will come under five sectors.

The two vertical sectors are fintech and healthtech; horizontal sectors are deep tech, smart city/space and social impact sectors."

The second phase of T-Hub is much-awaited, much-delayed project. It was said in November 2018 that the inauguration of the new incubator facility had been postponed to June 2019.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT and Industries, Telangana, was then quoted saying that there was some rust that formed on the steel structure, due to which about three months of work was lost. The construction contract of the project has been awarded to KPC Projects Ltd, a city-based infrastructure company.

Besides, in the initial period of construction, around January 2017, two migrant construction workers were killed after an under-construction wall of T-Hub's phase-2 building collapsed.

Jayesh Ranjan said, "the construction of first phase of T-Hub took 15 months. The second phase has taken almost double the time as the engineering of the building was complex.

With the opening of second phase, the existing startups from the first phase will be relocated to the new building.

The first phase will be handed over to IIIT-H, which will be used as their own startup incubator."

When the project of T-Hub 2nd phase was announced, it was said that the project would cost a total of Rs 180 crore.

The cost has since increased due to delay in project execution.IT Minister K T Rama Rao in the Assembly said that T-Hub Phase-2 was being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 276 crore.