Union minister inaugurates VTU’s hub and spoke centre of excellence

Bengaluru: Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has launched the VTU VRIF TCOE Hub, a national innovation centre, in collaboration with the Visvesvaraya Research and Innovation Foundation (VRIF) and the Telecom Center of Excellence (TCOE) India. 

The initiative aims to nurture next-generation technology and entrepreneurship by leveraging VTU’s expansive academic network of 218 institutions, more than 20,000 PhD holders and over four lakh students. 

The hub was inaugurated by Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Communications, at VTU’s regional office in Bengaluru.

“My job as telecom minister is to clear the path for innovation,” he said. 

He noted that India is now fifth in the world to develop indigenous 4G technology through BSNL. He hailed the progress as part of an “invisible information highway” powered by the world’s largest optical fiber network.

“We followed on 4G, matched pace on 5G, and will lead the world on 6G,” he declared. 

With an investment of $16.9 billion to connect every village via OFC, India has become the second-largest mobile market globally, enabling 140 crore people to access high-speed internet. 

Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister for Skill Development and Livelihood, stressed the VTU centre’s role in future-ready training. “This one-lakh sq ft facility will support R&D in 5G, 6G, AI, ML, AR/VR, quantum computing, healthcare, and more,” he said. 

VTU Vice-Chancellor S Vidyashankar highlighted the centre’s potential to boost student innovation and support startups. “It offers everything from labs to funding support—ensuring a robust startup ecosystem,” he said. 

In a separate event, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs inaugurated the first Regional Process Lab (RPL) in Bengaluru under the Aadi Karmayogi Abhiyan. 

In collaboration with the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), the initiative is aimed to create over 20 lakh tribal change agents to strengthen the grassroot governance.