India To Leverage G20 Presidency To Scale IndiaStack Globally: Piyush Goyal

Addressing the inaugural session of a G20 event in Hyderabad virtually, Union minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday (January 28) said that India is open to sharing and transferring its expertise in the arena of digital public goods delivery with the world.

He said that the country plans to use its G20 presidency to scale IndiaStack into GlobalStack and transform the way people use technology.

The minister also pitched for establishing a worldwide network of mentors, investors and entrepreneurs to strengthen the global startup ecosystem. He added that such a network would enable countries to facilitate funding and collaborations in Research and Development (R&D). 

He called on the G20 countries to support innovation and added that it should be the ‘collective responsibility’ of nations to incubate startup ecosystems that are more inclusive, supportive and sustainable.

Lauding homegrown startups, Goyal noted that Indian entrepreneurs are using innovation, ‘creativity and ingenuity’ to tackle global challenges related to climate change, poverty and inequality. 

Touting the state-backed platforms such as CoWin, UPI and the ONDC, Goyal said that these digital public goods systems are ensuring inclusive growth in the country and redefining social innovation.

The Union minister said that India has tied up with many nations across the globe to initiate programmes for supporting startups.

“Some of the prime examples are the Indo-US, Indo-UK, Indo-Australia partnerships where we explore supporting deep tech startups, that contribute to (the) circular economy, and address basic needs like health, water, agriculture, education, financial inclusion etc,” Goyal said. 

Minting his own acronym, SENSE, he urged the G20 member countries to ‘share, explore, nurture, serve and empower the growth of startups’.

“India is a mega-diverse country and has a rich ecosystem of startups, 50% of startups are led by women. India is going to be one of the largest economies in the world in the coming decades and for that startups are essential,” secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Anurag Jain said.

The two-day event of G20’s Startup20 Engagement Group will be attended by delegates from G20 nations and nine special invitees from observer countries as well as representatives from the Indian startup ecosystem. 

The meeting is part of India’s focus on innovation and startups ever since the country assumed the presidency of G20 earlier this year. The initiative will help devise policy recommendations on entrepreneurship and innovation across G20 for the next few years. 

The inaugural session was also attended by Union minister G Kishan Reddy and senior bureaucrats, including Amitabh Kant, and Startup20 India chair Chintan Vaishnav, among others. 

Interestingly, the event comes a day after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology-backed MeitY Startup Hub and social media group Meta shortlisted 120 startups under its extended reality accelerator scheme.