With more than 80,000 startups, India is emerging as an entrepreneurial hub of the world. The success rate of startups is equally high in India, as claimed by the government and its ministers.
The country currently has 84,012 startups (November 2022 figure) compared to 452 in 2016.
“There is a very high probability of failure of startups. Though I must say, the success rate of startups in India is relatively higher than the rest of the world....,” said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce in India’s lower house (Lok Sabha) during Question Hour recently.
S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, substantiated Goyal’s views and statistics on the status of startups in India. “Due to reform measures taken by the government during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, India witnessed the highest FDI flows in the country’s history that resulted in the creation of the largest startup ecosystem in the world,” media reports quoted him saying at a business event in Cyprus on Friday.
He drew the attention of the business gathering’s attention towards India’s Productive Linked Incentive (PLI), which is designed to increase production in India. The scheme, according to him, is bearing fruits, and the country’s volume of export and foreign direct investment is increasing.
“In 2021-22, our exports surpassed $400 billion for the first time, and for this year, we have set a target of $470 billion...The reforms implemented at the height of the Covid pandemic are beginning to bear fruit... We are receiving the highest FDI flows ever in our history. Last year we received $81 billion in FDI. We have become home to one of the world’s largest startup ecosystems. We are now home to almost 100 unicorns,” he said.
Jaishankar highlighted India’s ambition to emerge as a major manufacturing hub and become a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
The startups, according to him, are playing a vital role in directing the country towards both goals.
“One of the big initiatives we are working on right now is advocating for a lifestyle change. We want to use the G20 presidency to drive this forward. PM Modi believes that this will make a big difference for the environment,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
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