In early 1984 the engineer Sam Pitroda presented his plan for Indian telecommunications to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Her son Rajiv was in the room. In Pitroda’s account, published in Open magazine, Rajiv said: “Mom, listen to this. This guy has ideas.” She gave Pitroda an hour.
Later that year Pitroda founded the Centre for Development of Telematics, C-DOT, with Rajiv Gandhi’s backing. According to Pitroda’s website, it began in five rooms of a run-down government hotel.