TRIVANDRUM: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will unveil a technology business incubator (TBI) next month for nonresident Indians (NRIs) to help explore business avenues in emerging technologies and park their money in Kerala.

He will make the announcement at the 11th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations, to be held in Kerala for the first time. He will also inaugurate the celebrations on Jan.8.

The TBI will function on the lines of Startup Village, mentored by Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan, where scores of student entrepreneurs has set up their startups as part of the state government’s policy of encouraging entrepreneurship among students.

The incubator will be set up in a 2500-sq ft area in Infopark with an initial investment of Rs50 million, officials said. The state’s information technology department is reportedly giving final touches to the proposal.

Similar TBIs will come up at the state-run technology parks in Kollam, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram as well.

The proposal to establish a TBI for nonresident Keralites was cleared India’s National Advisory Committee on science and technology at its meeting held in Ahmedabad in April. The panel also wanted to extent its scope by including all NRIs.

This is the second PPP model TBI in the State promoted by Technopark TBI after the Startup Village, the telecom incubator set up in association with MobMe.

According to KCC Nair, Technopark-TBI secretary and registrar, the expatriates can either invest in the potential companies being hatched in the incubator or use the incubation facility to start their own business, involving themselves or through their representatives back home.