Digital India Startup Hub through the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) shall set up India’s first Centre of Excellence (CoE) in online gaming at Shillong by March 2023, Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

 The CoE is expected to catalyse startups and entrepreneurs from the entire North East region to build the next gen online gaming ecosystem. “It is the vision of PM Shri Narendra Modi ji that the next wave of startups and entrepreneurs must come from Shillong, Kohima and other parts of the North East India”, stated an official statement, quoting Chandrasekhar during an interaction with journalists at a press conference in Shillong.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has recently circulated draft amendments to the IT Rules 2021 in relation to online gaming for public consultation.

The Minister also highlighted the importance of digital skills after Covid, as the rate of digitization of products, services and devices continues to increase across the globe.

“Imparting digital skills to the youth in North East region to enable them to grab opportunities of jobs and entrepreneurship in the fast-expanding Digital economy is an article of faith for Shri Narendra Modi Government,”  the Minister pointed out.

The Minister also informed that the government is re-launching Skill India through PMKVY 4.0, which shall train around 50,000 youth in Meghalaya in future-ready skills with industry backed job opportunities.