Govts of T'gana, US' California sign MoU, pledge cooperation

Telangana government has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with California state of the US for cooperation in a number of sectors, including business innovation, alternative energy and education. "This MoU will open new avenues for exchange of innovative ideas between startups in Telangana and Silicon Valley. I am confident that startups in both geographies would benefit immensely from this MoU," Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao said in a statement. The southern Indian state and the California Governor's office have pledged to work together in alternative energy, environmental technology, health, agriculture, business innovation, technology-based industries, research and development, among others, for which a delegation led by Rao signed the MoU. Panorea Avdis, Director, California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) said India and California have strong economic ties that make our respective regions natural partners. "The agreement with the Telangana government provides a framework for collaboration that will help innovative Indian companies invest in California and help innovative companies in our state access the Indian market," Avdis said. "The MoU aims to connect the respective innovation programmes and help foster economic cooperation and development, facilitate joint industrial research and development through their respective innovation ecosystems, and enhance business relationships and educational opportunities in areas such as renewable energy, cleantech, smart cities, water conservation, biotech and agri tech," an official release said. "Through this agreement, the companies that participate in the Telangana T-Hub will have access to resources and contacts within the GO-Biz Innovation Hub (I-Hubs) network, which stretches from Redding to San Diego (in USA) and includes 15 distinct I-Hubs, making it the largest state-sponsored innovation network in the US," the release said. Likewise, this agreement opens opportunities for California companies to connect with the partners and companies within T-Hub network, it added.