Education
Work with the proposed Tourism and Hospitality University (upgraded NITHM) to include entrepreneurship programs
Research
Work with academic institutions to study the socio-economic impact of cultural enterprises
Hon’ble Chief Minister,
Govt. of Telangana
Minister of Tourism & Culture and Archaeology, Govt. of Telangana
Hon’ble Chief Minister,
Govt. of Telangana
Minister of Tourism & Culture and Archaeology, Govt. of Telangana
The TCETA is a joint program by Telangana Innovation Cell (TGIC) and Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises (NICEorg). It will work with stakeholders to complement and enable the relevant and appropriate sections, such as spiritual, heritage, rural & crafts, adventure, wellness based tourism, of Telangana Tourism Policy 2025-30 to come to life by working with the Telangana Govt Tourism Development Corp (TGTDC)
TCETA recognises that entrepreneurial businesses based on Telangana’s food, beverage and experiential tourism need to be discovered and nurtured to create branded products, services and experiences, drive livelihoods and be self-sustaining.
TCETA will see the local expert The Culinary Lounge to curate hands-on culinary and cultural interventions including Culinary Labs, food festivals, and innovation showcases, ensuring authenticity and market relevance.
The TCETA will discover and nurture such entrepreneurs through Challenge Grants, contests, events, mentorship, enabling partnerships, funding and other initiatives.
Recognising and honouring those enterprises that have made outstanding contributions to the development and promotion of Telangana cuisine and experiential tourism in the state, India and the world. The Telangana Culinary Awards will be curated as part of this mandate, ensuring recognition of chefs, entrepreneurs, and cultural custodians.
Distinctly branding of Telangana cuisine and Brand Telangana to tourists The Culinary Lounge will anchor ‘Brand Telangana Culinary Identity’ initiatives, including an annual Telangana Culinary Festival and the ‘Culinary & Cultural Passport of Telangana’.
Skilling & Training Programs of chefs in Telangana cuisine, of guides and others. The Culinary Lounge will host training programs at its Hyderabad studio, focusing on chefs, guides, and cultural entrepreneurs across districts.
Work with the proposed Tourism and Hospitality University (upgraded NITHM) to include entrepreneurship programs
Work with academic institutions to study the socio-economic impact of cultural enterprises
This open call across the state for the creation of a digital public infrastructure (DPI based digital map of Telangana with each of the 33 districts marked with its unique crafts, art, food, beverage, heritage monuments, spiritual places, forests, wildlife, places of interest (e.g. trekking, buildings, water bodies), and so on. Each such map should also have info on places to stay, fuel, toilets. VR/AR options should exist. Must allow for user interaction, zoom in and out, including provision for moderation of comments; should be integrated with payment & booking platforms and have a monetisation plan. The platform should be with published APIs for easy integration with other systems.
The open call with application details will be designed and published. Selection criteria will be published. A jury will select top applicants and will be supported on a milestone bases to scale their ideas. The one that gets finally selected will be honoured and recognised at an event. It is expected to be completed within 6months.
A website will be created with all information, criteria, selection process, jury members, rules and conditions, application forms and submissions.
This is an acceleration program for branded culinary & experiential tourism enterprises that are uniquely based on Telangana.The Culinary Lounge will integrate Corporate Cook-off Demo Days and Cultural Showcases into the program, giving entrepreneurs direct access to Hyderabad’s corporate and startup ecosystem.
This program will have two parts, branded RISE and FLY respectively. 10 businesses will be selected from each of RISE and FLY categories. Grants will be provided for businesses in each category based on achievement of milestones. In addition, enablement of funding through additional grants, equity and debt will be facilitated from a combination of public and private sources.
Rise will be for those branded businesses with a unique proposition, financial viability, and livelihood generation in culinary or experiential tourism or both. Open to those with revenues of at least INR 30 Lakhs per annum
Fly is for those existing branded businesses, who need mentorship, networking with stakeholders in the ecosystem and who need funds to grow. Open to those with revenues of at least INR 50 Lakhs pa and who are in culinary or experiential tourism or both
● This will include familiarity and close engagement with relevant enterprises who have created a niche for themselves in their sectors
● Cohort-based learnings that enable cross-sharing of best practices and problem solving
● Sessions on specific capacity building needs of enterprises by experts
● Opportunity for cultural enterprises in the cohort to connect with larger partner enterprises in their sector
● Opportunity to get mentored and network with practitioners from these larger partner enterprises from their sectors
● Opportunity to network with the larger pool of cultural entrepreneurs from across the state and elsewhere for exploring partnerships and collaborations to grow their enterprises.
● Understanding of various funding types, funding initiatives and how and when to access these
● Learning about funding agreements
● Learning about communicating to funders from presenting, to management to handling conflicts
● Access to potential funders