CM launches state innovation mission with support from NITI Aayog

Tripura Chief Minister Prof. Dr Manik Saha on Thursday announced that with the assistance of Atal Innovation Mission and NITI Aayog, Tripura will come up with an artificial intelligence policy, a first of its kind initiative in the country.

He said that as Agartala is a smart city, the state government will introduce AI-based solutions for city management, including traffic management.

Dr Saha made this announcement while addressing the launch of the State Innovation Mission in Tripura at the International Exhibition Centre, Hapania, Agartala, in the presence of Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh.

He said that the State Innovation Mission in Tripura is India’s first such state-level innovation mission in Tripura something they had never imagined earlier.

“We have focused on administrative and business reforms, digital governance, and forward-looking industrial and start-up policies. Tripura is the only state in the country where the entire government functioning from the Cabinet and State Secretariat to the three-tier village councils as well as Gram Panchayats is completely paperless. Good governance initiatives are aimed at providing economic opportunities to the people and translating youth aspirations into enterprise,” said Dr. Saha.

Dr Saha said that this is part of the NITI Aayog State Support Mission.

“This initiative helps states and Union Territories build strong localized innovation ecosystems based on their specific strengths. The Tripura State Innovation Mission is a novel initiative supported by the Atal Innovation Mission to create an ecosystem that nurtures talented enterprises, adopts cutting-edge technologies, and translates ideas into projects,” he said.

He said that the Tripura Institution for Transformation and the Department of Information Technology have collaborated with Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and T-Hub to conceptualize and establish the Tripura State Innovation Mission and T-NEST.

“The State Innovation Mission will nurture enterprises that solve problems in agriculture, green technology, digital services, tourism, healthcare, and beyond. Strategically positioned in the Northeast, Tripura has the potential to emerge as a regional innovation hub connecting India’s growth story with the emerging Southeast Asian economic corridor,” said Dr. Saha.

Dr Saha said that T-NEST has been established as the execution arm of the State Innovation Mission. T-NEST will serve as a bridge connecting campuses to markets, ideas to investment, and innovation to impact.

“T-NEST will be linked with the upcoming state-of-the-art incubation innovation park at Chandmari, near the upcoming Airtel data center. Innovation centers will be set up across all eight districts and linked with T-NEST. Tripura will launch the country’s first District Innovator Fellowships to foster grassroots innovators. With the assistance of the Atal Innovation Mission and NITI Aayog, Tripura will introduce an artificial intelligence policy a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. As Agartala is a smart city, we will introduce AI-based solutions for city management such as traffic control. We believe this will help address traffic congestion, parking issues, power supply management, drinking water supply, flood control, solid and liquid waste management, and property assessment. Leading technology providers have expressed interest in sharing AI use cases to improve public service delivery in Agartala city,” said Dr. Saha.

He also said that the state government is in the process of establishing the Tripura AI Centre of Excellence with assistance from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.

“We are also planning to set up a Tripura IT and Data Economic Zone to promote the IT, ITES, and data center ecosystem in the state, as the demand for software enterprises is growing. We have decided to establish an IT park to provide co-working spaces within a single campus,” he added.

During the event, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Suman Bery, Member NITI Aayog V.K. Saraswat, IT and Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy, Chief Secretary J.K. Sinha, Secretary Kiran Gitte, and others were present.