Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with over 150 start-ups via video conferencing across different sectors of the country. He said that the startups will be the backbone of the new India. He declared that January 16 every year will be celebrated as National Startup Day from now on. He interacted with the innovators as part of the Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem event. This event was hosted by the DPIIT which is a wing of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This is the 6th anniversary of the launch of the Startup India Initiative.
Prime Minister during his speech stated that the startups of India are changing the rules of the game. He believes that startups will prove to be the backbone of the country. He congratulated all the startups and all the youth of the nation who are raising the Indian flag in the world of startups. Modi also mentioned that his government is making big changes in policies regarding the startups. He said that startups will play a huge role in India when India will complete 100 years of independence.
The Prime Minister asked the startups to approach the rural and semi-urban areas for the launching of new projects and said that these are the areas that are booming presently. The focus on these areas will help towards the building of rural India. These areas are loaded with challenges but they are also filled with huge potential as well. This decade is being called the ‘techade’ of India. He promised the innovators will be helped by the government to take the nation ahead in the global arena of startups.
He urged the innovators to make their dreams global and to not restrict them locally. Modi asked them to innovate for India and from India. The startup sector of India was lauded for its growth in the last few years. He was quoted saying that there is at least 1 startup in almost 625 districts across the country. More than half of the startups are present in Tier-2 or Tier-3 cities. It is a testament to the fact that people are converting their ideas into businesses.
He mentioned that the golden period of startups is just beginning in India. Due to the campaigns going on across the country, the Global Innovation Index of India has improved a lot. India’s rank was at number 81 in the Global Innovation Index and it has gone up to 46 in the past few years.
