J&K Has Huge Unexplored Potential For Agritech Startups: MoS Jitendra Singh

Noting that the country’s progress in the coming years would be technology-driven, Minister of State (MoS) for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, has called on the youth to build startups in new and unexplored arenas.

“The entire progress and growth in the years to come is going to be technology-driven, and the sooner we understand this, the better for us,” said Singh.

He also added that the next 25 years would see Jammu and Kashmir and other Himalayan states make a significant value addition to building India’s future economy. 

Reiterating his oft-repeated quote, the Minister said that many young entrepreneurs quit their lucrative jobs in multinational companies to establish their startups. He also highlighted that the penchant for government jobs, especially in Northern India, was proving to be an impediment to startup culture. 

Lauding the entrepreneurs, the MoS said that a new wave of agritech startups had emerged in the country in the past few years. These platforms, he said, were solving problems related to market access, supply chain management, refrigeration, and seed management, among others.

Jitendra Singh made the comments while inaugurating the three-day-long startup summit called Kashmir Expo in Srinagar on Wednesday (November 9).

With regards to J&K, Singh said that the ‘Purple Revolution’ (lavender farming) offered attractive startup avenues for the youth. He also said that the state had huge unexplored potential in agritech startups citing favourable geography and climatic conditions for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants.

The Minister also promised full help from the department of biotechnology and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for agritech startups in the union territory.

Calling on the local youth to explore other niche startup opportunities, such as bamboo farming, Singh said that bamboo clusters in three districts – Jammu, Katra and Samba – will create thousands of jobs in the UT.

Startups In A Quagmire

An Inc42 report estimates that Indian agritech startups raised $2 Bn in funding between 2014 and the first half of 2022. Home to players such as DeHaat, WayCool Foods and NinjaCart, the current year has seen some of the biggest rounds for these startups despite the downturn. 

As a result, the Indian agritech sector is projected to grow to $24 Bn by 2025, with market linkage emerging as the biggest sub-sector.

Despite the ongoing funding winter, the government has been going out on a limb to promote startups. On one hand, the government has also announced plans to support more than 10,000 startups in the next five to six years under its GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups) initiative. On the other hand, the government has also announced a slew of subsidies and production-linked incentives (PLIs) to scale and spur homegrown startups.

Late last month, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Indian startup ecosystem was valued at around INR 3 Lakh Cr. In total, Indian startups have raised more than $130 Bn between 2014 and the first half of 2022. The country is also home to more than 107 unicorns that have a combined valuation of more than $341 Bn and have raised $93 Bn+ in funding so far. 

The current macroeconomic climate and market volatility have played a spoilsport for the ecosystem as startups have struggled to raise money. While there seems to be no end to the dry spell facing the ecosystem, apprehensions of recession and negative market sentiment has made matters worse for investors and founders alike. 

The upheaval has led many startups to cut corners and focus more on positive unit economics and corporate governance. While the funding has brought bad tidings, it appears to have set Indian startups on a path of positive growth and profitability.