CHENNAI: The small town of Thattuvanjeri near Kumbakonam is gearing up to make its mark on the global tech map, with top notch research and development (R&D) on a host of tech products, as founder of Zoho Sridhar Vembu plans to open a centre, housed inside the tiled traditional houses of his native village. Sharing his vision to bring glory back to India’s villages, the maverick techpreneur tells TOI how important it is to prevent brain drain from the towns and villages.What are the projects close to your heart, and the areas where you and Zoho are working to see change?I am concerned about the relatively low investment in R&D in the country. . Today, we have to look abroad for the simplest of technologies. Investment in R&D is needed to equalize the global terms of trade. Improving our GDP per capita depends on R&D for complex know-how of productsThe problem is pervasive, and if we don’t solve it, our GDP will remain low, and employment will become a challenge.For every high value R&D job we create, there are 10 or 20 other lower value addition jobs created, and that is my passion and that is what we at Zoho are trying to do. Our projects are targeted at creating high value products using our own talent. To bring about this change we need time and patience. This is the key reason we do not take outside capital. Outside capital needs immediate returns, while for these changes we need to wait eight to 10 years.What can be done to bring about this structural change in our country?The infrastructure needs for R&D are minimal. Taking it into production is a whole different thing. At Zoho, we run on our own creations and frameworks, and it greatly helps our productivity. We are not just building in India for cost-differences, but because great work can be done by the talent here. It’s not just about Make in India. It needs to also be design and research in India.When we export talent, India doesn’t benefit. What the country needs is the vision and persistence from entrepreneurs and industrialists. It requires a cultural change to move from the instant returns of a buying and selling business, to research-oriented ventures with long-term returns. For this engineers need to be empowered. It is not about policy, government support or regulation. We are building world-class products in Tenkasi . The belief that it can be done is the catalyst. We need to move away from fatalistic thinking.What are you doing to implement this vision ?We are actively considering R&D initiatives in small towns and villages. I am keen to stop erosion of talent, and passionate about creating high-paying jobs in our villages. I am planning to start with my own village as I see it dying. Right now, I have a team in my own village at Thattuvanjeri near Anaikarai scouting for abandoned houses to convert them into R&D centres. Of the 20 houses in my street, only three are occupied. In another couple of decades, there will be nothing left and I want to change that. We plan to rent or lease a few of the houses to set up R&D centres, employ locals and pay them city-level salaries.At a recent event in an educational institution in Manjakkudi, I asked the graduates how many of them planned to work in the area. Only five of the 400 raised their hands, the remaining planned to migrate to cities. We seem to be vacuuming the top soil [talent] of our villages and removing the vibrancy of the areas. I see this as a huge problem. If we don’t create high-paying jobs in rural areas, they will die. Gandhi was right when he said “India lives in its villages”.What are your views on the data localization proposal mooted by policymakers?The key to data localization is that countries have control on their own data. I feel Indians are ok to make a compromise when the government accesses their data for national security, but they don’t want the private sector to do so. Like Europe, every country is heading towards this direction when it comes to data, and passing such legislation. As a company, our role is to create the technology needed to comply with whatever the regulation is.What are the priorities for Zoho going ahead? What does it take to make Sridhar Vembu invest in a startup?The areas of data security, cloud technology, and similar others are our priorities.We see a lot software companies turning hardware companies today. Personally, for my investments, I look at entrepreneurs who stay committed to a cause and are married to their business. If they are interested in exits, I am not interested in them.