Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said 65 per cent of data centre capacity of India was in the state and pitched for new start-ups and digital technology firms in tier-2 and tier 3 cities.

Speaking at the inauguration of Tech Mahindra digital delivery system campus in MIHAN Nagpur, he hailed Aadhaar, GST and digital payment gateway UPI and underlined the speed with which the country was embracing technology.

For India to become a USD 5 trillion economy, Maharashtra must have a USD 1 trillion economy, he added.

Asserting that data is the new oil, he said, "Maharashtra has created such a ecosystem that 65 percent of the data centre capacity of India is in this state. Maharashtra is also the start-up capital as 15,000 of the 80,000 start-ups in India are? registered in this state. Moreover, 25 out of 100 unicorns are in Maharashtra."

He said the start-up ecosystem should go beyond Mumbai, Pune and MMR region and must come to cities like Nagpur, Nasik and Kolhapur.?

Hailing the Tech Mahindra Centre of Excellence here, he said such facilities will enable people to create new start up and digital technology ecosystems in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stressed on the need for the expansion of MIHAN, which would make Nagpur the logistics capital of India.

-With PTI Input