The Tamil Nadu government was employing IT tools to make the state a hub of innovation, Mano Thangaraj, Minister for Information Technology & Digital services, said on Monday.

IT would be flexed to foster growth, generate employment and to provide citizen-centric services besides take the DMK government's social welfare schemes to people's doorsteps, he said.

"I spoke about the digital initiatives of Tamil Nadu government, especially skill development, providing high-speed internet access in village panchayats, initiatives in urban and rural areas, data-centric governance to identify genuine beneficiaries and other works at the Digital India's Conference of State IT Ministers," he said.

Speaking to reporters in the national capital, the Minister said his speech centered around three major focus areas of G2C (Government to citizen) initiatives in providing efficient and swift online services to people, e-Governance and data-centric governance for smart decision making.

"Many appreciated the initiatives taken in Tamil Nadu under the leadership of Chief Minister M K Stalin especially the last mile connectivity and Internet services for all villages," he said.

The importance being given to start-ups, innovations and the ecosystem was also highlighted at the conference, Thangaraj added.

Responding to a question, he said the emerging drone technology and its application in diverse fields including agriculture, traffic management; and also robotics opens new opportunities for growth.

"We are exploring the possibilities of their applications and also adapt the best practices from abroad to make the state numero uno in digital services. This is also the dream of our Chief Minister," he said.

The Minister said in a tweet "State to adopt IT for growth, governance & people's welfare. Under vibrant leadership of Hon'ble @cmotamilnadu @mkstalin, IT & DS Dept. Is using IT tools to make TN hub of innovation. IT for growth, job generation, efficient online services & social justice is our mission."