NewsGram Staff Writer

Panaji: Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, stressing on the need to encourage a culture of innovation in the country, urged India Inc. to make investments in the country's start-ups to address the nation's problems.

"In order to encourage innovation in India, we need to invest in Indian start-ups that address Indian problems. As a market, we have tremendous opportunities in India, and the same innovations are finding markets in other economies too," he said at the inaugural edition of the Global Business Forum(GBF) , an initiative of Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay alumni association, held near Panaji.

Sinha also said that places like Powai, in Mumbai, where the IIT-B is located and Bengaluru; upcoming townships like Gurgaon should be developed as innovation hubs for India.

"The way we see it, these factors place our future in our own hands and I can see how Powai – home to IIT Bombay, and Gurgaon and Bengaluru can be the innovation hubs for the 6 billion people that inhabit the developing world," he said.

The GBF is aimed at creating impactful technological innovations in products and services through focused dialogue based on national priorities like education, skill, infrastructure, healthcare, smart cities, energy, Information Communication technology, environment (Water) and the Make in India campaign.

(With inputs from IANS)