Arvind Kumar, former senior advisor at telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI, has joined as the director-general of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), the state-owned autonomous organisation said.

Before joining STPI, Kumar worked with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) since 2004.

“STPI, in my opinion, should serve as a one-stop-shop for technology start-ups. I believe that start-ups can primarily contribute in fulfilling the government’s vision of a $1 trillion digital economy,” PTI quoted Kumar as saying.

STPI is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and focuses on building technology entrepreneurship and innovation in the country. It has launched over 25 centres of entrepreneurship in emerging technology domains.

Currently, STPI-registered units have crossed the Rs 5 lakh crore exports mark. It is one of the largest technology incubators in India with an area of about 13 lakh square feet spread across the country.

STPI is also assisting in the formulation of the India BPO Promotion Scheme 2.0.

Further, to strengthen the electronics sector, STPI has undertaken the rolling out of the Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme.

Kumar holds an M Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi and has also worked with the state-owned Centre for Development of Telematics before joining TRAI.

At TRAI, Kumar was one of the senior most advisors having spent over six years there, and had been looking after the broadcast and cable sector. He was also instrumental in formulating the regulator’s new tariff regime for TV channels, which has been legally contested since 2019.

The new tariff regime, also popularly called NTO 2.0, is scheduled to be finally implemented from April 2022, though, presently, the Supreme Court is hearing the legal challenge of the rules by the broadcasters.