Jyotiraditya Scindia Inaugurates VTU-VRIF-TCOE Hub In Bengaluru

NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Communications and Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Jyotiraditya M. Scindia inaugurated the VTU-VRIF-TCOE Hub and Spoke of Excellence in Bengaluru on July 10.

This Centre of Excellence (CoE) is a strategic partnership between Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), the Visvesvaraya Research and Innovation Foundation (VRIF), and Telecom Centres of Excellence (TCOE) India.

The collaboration aims to establish a state-of-the-art innovation ecosystem with a focus on emerging domains including 5G/6G communications, AI, Machine Learning, Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), quantum computing, Healthcare and other frontier technologies.

Delighted to inaugurate the VTU-VRIF Telecom Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima, a pioneering initiative with VRIF & @TCOEIndia.

Inspired by PM @narendramodi ji’s visionary call of ‘Jai Anusandhan’, the Centre is poised to become a… pic.twitter.com/uuAWaihNGR

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) July 10, 2025

Addressing the academic community of VTU, Scindia stressed the importance of Bengaluru in India’s tech landscape, stating, “The world calls Bengaluru India’s Silicon Valley. But I say—in the next decade, Silicon Valley will be seen as a version of Bengaluru. This is a city where code is written over coffee, satellites are launched before traffic signals, and startups are born every minute.”

Deep-tech research

The new facility aims to be a launchpad for deep-tech research and startup incubation, powered by a robust academia-industry partnership.

With over 20 startups and 30 academic institutions on board, the ecosystem is set to drive innovation at scale. The initiative is also supported by leading tech firms including Keysight Technologies, QpiAI, Televerge, etc. Skill development efforts are being guided by the Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC).

Digital infrastructure

Citing remarkable growth in India’s digital infrastructure, Scindia said, “Eleven years ago, we had 250 million internet users. Today, we have over 974 million internet subscribers and 940 million broadband users. We’re building the world’s largest optical fiber network—an invisible digital highway that will visibly transform 140 crore lives.”

Dr. Sharanprakash R. Patil, Karnataka’s Minister for Medical Education and Skill Development; Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE; Dr. S. Vidyashankar, Vice-Chancellor, VTU; and senior executives from India’s leading technology companies were present at the inaugural event.

Union Minister Scindia also reflected on India’s evolution from a software services hub to a product innovation powerhouse. “We once imported 90% of our mobile phones. Today, India is exporting mobile phones worth over ₹2.5 lakh crore, including to the US. It’s time we move from being the world’s back office to becoming its innovation engine,” he said.