Indian youth are job creators, women leading more than 45% start-ups, says Modi at Startup Mahakumbh

PM was addressing event in Delhi organised by the government’s Startup India initiative, which was launched in 2016 to nurture new businesses.

PM Modi at Startup Mahakumbh at Bharat Mandapam | ANI File Photo

New Delhi: India’s youth have chosen the path of being job creators and not job seekers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a convention in Delhi Wednesday, highlighting that women were leading more than 45 percent of Indian start-ups.

Modi was addressing the Startup Mahakumbh, an event organised by the government’s Startup India initiative, which was launched in 2016 “to catalyse the start-up culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India”, according to its website.

“Startup India initiative gave the platform for innovative ideas and connected them to funding,” the prime minister said at the swanky Bharat Mandapam exhibition hall where the three-day Startup Mahakumbh is being held to showcase the country’s start-up ecosystem.

VIDEO | "Startup India has given a platform to innovative ideas, connected them with sources of funding. The whole country can proudly say that our startup ecosystem is not only limited to big metro cities. It has reached over 600 districts, this means it has become a social… pic.twitter.com/vhD4pP5Wjn

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 20, 2024

 

India has more than 1.25 lakh startups and 110 unicorns, Modi said, lauding the organisers for holding such a “big event” when general elections were near. “Usually, a business mind thinks that elections are near, we will see when the new government comes to power. Elections have been declared and despite that you have organised such a big event. This means that you know what’s going to happen in the next five years,” Modi added.

Modi said India took the right decision (on start-ups) at the right time, thereby building a roadmap for becoming a developed country, adding that the ecosystem was not limited to metro cities, but had become a “social culture”.

The prime minister also sent out a message to the opposition Congress during his speech, repeating the BJP’s continual taunt that some people had been launched again and again in politics. In November last, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had sarcastically said that while Modi had successfully launched the Chandrayaan mission, the Congress had been struggling to launch Rahul Gandhi for the past 20 years.

Modi said Wednesday, “Startup to bahot log launch karte hain.. .aur politics mein to jyada… baar-baar launch karna padta hai. Aap mein aur unme fark yeh hai ki aap log prayogsheel hote hain, ek agar launch nahi hua to turant dusre par chale jaate hain.”

The prime minister also added that India had democratised technology, thereby bridging the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots”.

The government has taken several steps to promote start-ups after it came to power two terms ago. Under the Startup India initiative, there are Funds of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) to provide funding at various stages of the business.

In the interim Budget for 2024-25, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had extended tax incentives and certain exemptions to start-ups by one more year, till 31 March, 2025.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)