India Now Has 1 Lakh Govt Recognised Startups: Piyush Goyal

Highlighting the triumph of Startup India, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced a significant increase in the number of government-recognised startups — from 450 in 2016 to over 100,000 today.

At the ‘Entrepreneurs Launchpad’ event, Goyal highlighted that the world is looking at the opportunities available in India right now. As the average age of the Indian population is less than 30, he said that by 2047, the country will experience exponential growth. 

To help the Indians achieve this target, he said, the government is working on providing basic development such as power connection, digital connectivity, cooking gas access, piped water supply and advancements in health and education. 

In July, to encourage the growth of more startups, the Commerce Minister announced that the government would refrain from imposing regulations. Instead, he suggested that startups should be governed by a self-regulatory mechanism.

However, to observe orderly growth of the ecosystem, the government would create some framework, the minister had said.

Earlier in January, at a G20 meeting in Hyderabad, the minister expressed the government’s eagerness to build a network comprising mentors, investors, and entrepreneurs to fortify the startup ecosystem. He conveyed that establishing such a network would aid countries in fostering funding and collaborations in research and development. 

While addressing the G20 member nations, he emphasised that cultivating an inclusive, supportive, and sustainable startup ecosystem should be a collective responsibility of all the participating countries.

The government has been advocating for the Indian startup ecosystem lately, through a number of initiative announcements. Recently, it launched Skill India Digital platform to integrate all state and central government skilling initiatives on one platform with a focus on digital technology and Industry 4.0 skills. 

Since 2014, there have been more than 68K tech startups in India and 111 unicorns, as per Inc42 data. 

Inc42’s State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem Report 2023 found that having raised more than $141 Bn in funding since 2014, the Indian startups have a combined valuation of more than $450 Bn, and have created more than 768K jobs over the last six years.