On the occasion of completion of 100 years of independence, startups will play an important role in realizing the resolve of making India a developed nation by 2047. Expressing this confidence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has underlined the growth in the field of startups that this growth is not limited only to metros, but has become a social culture and young entrepreneurs are taking their innovations to small towns also. India has the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. Addressing the Startup Mahakumbh, Prime Minister Modi expressed hope that India will become a leader in the field of Artificial Intelligence. He has called upon young entrepreneurs to work for such Indian solutions, which will help in solving problems around the world. Efforts are being made to effectively increase investment in this sector through the India Startup Ecosystem Registry, operated under the Startup India program of the Government of India, launched in January 2016. This registry has a comprehensive database through which all concerned parties connect with each other and exchange cooperation.
Various departments of the Government of India, including Defense and Space, are purchasing goods and services from startup enterprises. Startup companies have done business of more than Rs 20 thousand crore on the government’s e-marketplace portal. The number of recognized startups in our country by December 2023 is approximately 1,17,254, of which about 110 are unicorns. Unicorn startups are those companies whose value is more than one billion dollars. Prime Minister Modi also underlined in his statement that startup enterprises have filed more than 12 thousand patent applications, which shows the increasing pace of innovation. Recently, more than one lakh patents have been granted in India, half of which are Indian innovations. Last year, India had the highest growth rate in patent applications globally. It is also an achievement that the reins of more than 45 percent of startup companies are in the hands of women. More than 12.4 lakh jobs have been created due to the startup ecosystem. Such achievements under the Startup India initiative in seven years are very encouraging. India has also started research on 6G internet along with programs like National Quantum Mission, India AI Mission and Semiconductor Mission. With such efforts, the startup ecosystem will gain a bigger base.