Startups Have Created Over 16 Lakh Jobs: Commerce Ministry

The Indian startup ecosystem has created more than 16 Lakh jobs across the country, with 1.57 Lakh startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Startup India initiative as of December 25, the commerce and industry ministry said.

“Startups have created over 1.6 Mn jobs across the country, demonstrating their role as significant employment generators,” the commerce ministry said in its notification on Wednesday.

India is currently home to more than 73,000 startups that have at least one women director, according to DPIIT.

“India has emerged as … the third largest startup hub” globally with over 100 unicorns, with the widespread availability of affordable internet, coupled with a young workforce, driving the growth of startups across sectors such as fintech, edtech, healthtech, and ecommerce, it said.

Startups like Zomato, Ola, and Nykaa have expanded their operations beyond domestic borders, demonstrating India’s ability to compete in the international markets, the government said.

It further said that homegrown startups are leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to address both local and global problems.

Launched in January 2016, the Startup India initiative aims to build a strong homegrown startup ecosystem while nurturing innovation and encouraging investments.

Under the initiative, 157,066 startups have been recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) with 759,303 users registering on the portal to date.

Notably, DPIIT-recognised startups get access to a variety of incentives and sops under schemes like Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS).

Other than Startup India, the government has launched several initiatives to give a boost to the startup ecosystem in the country, including the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI).

In August, the union agriculture ministry launched an INR 750 Cr ‘AgriSURE’ fund (Agri Fund for Start-ups & Rural Enterprises) to back agritech and rural area-focussed startups.

Further, the Centre has also set up an INR 1,000 Cr venture capital fund for the spacetech sector, which is likely to get operational by the June quarter of the next fiscal year.