Talent Pool Makes Kerala Best Place for Tech-driven Firms: Minister KN Balagopal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala can emerge as the best place to host technology-driven enterprises with the initiatives like MuLearn, which offers students free access to mentors in the industry, fostering the talents of vibrant youth of state, said Finance Minister KN Balagopal here today.

Balagopal was delivering the valedictory address at the ‘Permute 2025,’ one of India’s largest skilling festivals, organized by GTECH MuLearn at the Tagore Theatre in the city. The skill summit aims at making Kerala the country’s talent capital for the knowledge industry.

Sreekumar V, Centre Head, Tata Elxsi, and Secretary, GTECH, and Deepu S Nath, Chief Volunteer, MuLearn and MD, FAYA, were also present.

MuLearn is an initiative of the Group of Technology Companies (GTECH), which comprises of over 250 companies employing more than 80 percent of the professionals in the state.

The Minister said events like ‘Permute 2025’ are unique initiatives to foster innovation among youth in the right direction to leverage the opportunities in cutting-edge technologies.

“The government has realized the importance of emerging technologies. In the state budget, we have given prominence to startups and GPU clusters, besides allocation for setting up Global Capability Centres (GCCs),” he said.

Balagopal also gave away awards to the winners in various categories. ICT Academy Tamil Nadu, TinkerHub and SLATE bagged awards in the Recognition for Partner for CSR Utilisation category.

Udhyam Learning Foundation won the award in Recognition for Community Partners in terms of Contribution category. Joshua Varghese and Riza Mohammed T won the Top 100 Coders Junior Award.

The S.L.A.T.E Catalyst Award for student project managers excelled in being catalysts for social impact was given to Nayana Roshan, Anamika Lami and Aaliya Tariq. The award includes the scholarship of Rs 35,000 each.

HR Evolve, the cohort of 300-plus HR Managers of IT companies in Kerala, won the Dedication in Transformational Impact Award. Top Emerging Campuses: College of Engineering, Trivandrum, University College of Engineering, Kariavattom, AWH Engineering College, Kozhikode, College of Engineering, Pathanapuram, Lourdes Matha College of Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, College of Engineering, Chengannur, and Providence College of Engineering, Chengannur.

‘Permute 2025’ also addressed some of the most pressing challenges in education like reimagining curriculum for future readiness, fostering experiential learning, strengthening global industry collaboration, enabling adaptive education models, and enhancing digital and technological fluency.

Over 2,000 delegates, including government officials, top skilling agencies, industry leaders, and representatives of colleges attended. The students’ expo featuring their innovations was one of the attractions of the one-day event.