EPIC Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation founded by Cofounders of HCL Dr Ajai Chowdhry and Arjun Malhotra, has signed an MOU with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and is presently in discussions with several other academic institutions, with an aim to develop distinct "Designed in India" products catering to 1.4 billion Indians. The MOU with KDEM was signed by Ajai Chowdhry and BV Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission.
Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman, EPIC Foundation and Member of the MeitY task force said, "KDEM is working on ESDM sector growth under the Beyond Bengaluru initiative which covers cities such as Mysore, Hubli, Belgaum, Mangalore, Shivamogga. They have start up incubators and accelerators. We will support these start-ups with technical mentoring, go-to-market strategies and help overcome operational issues and challenges."
Amitesh Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology said, "The increased demand for electronic hardware products is boosting the market size. Focussed government schemes on product manufacturing are being deployed. We have the right talent pool. Time has come to make India's own products."
Furthermore, the foundation launched two products - a) an LED Driver chip that is designed by a startup in Bengaluru and ready to go into production to replace a Chinese chip and b) first 100 per cent Designed in India Tablet for education and social empowerment with unique features of repairability and upgradability, developed on the principles of repair-reuse-recycle.