The Startup Mahakumbh concluded its third day with the most awaited Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s session. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of Start-up Mahakumbh and emphasised the country’s roadmap of working to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047. He also took a walkthrough of the exhibition showcased on the occasion.
“India is the third largest startup ecosystem with 1.25 lakh startups involving 12 lakh youth who are directly linked with them,” said PM Modi at the Startup Mahakumbh event on Wednesday. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, Union Ministers of State Anupriya Patel, and Som Prakash were present on the occasion among others.
The Prime Minister highlighted India’s making a mark in the IT and software sector in the last few decades and underlined the emerging trends of innovation and start-up culture. Therefore, the Prime Minister said the presence of people from the world of start-ups underlines the importance of today’s occasion.
Dwelling on the success of start-ups in the country, the Prime Minister drew attention to the genius element that makes them successful. He acknowledged the presence of investors, incubators, academicians, researchers, industry members, and present and future entrepreneurs and said, “This is indeed a Mahakumbh in its truest form creating an unprecedented energy and vibe.”
The PM said the startup revolution is being led by small cities and that too in a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, textiles, medicine, transport, space, yoga, and ayurveda. Elaborating on space startups, the Prime Minister said that Indian startups are working in more than 50 areas in the space sector, including the launch of the space shuttle. He expressed delight that more than 45 per cent of start-ups in the country are women-led, be it education, agriculture or health.
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He also emphasised the importance of the culture of innovation for humanity, not just for Viksit Bharat. He mentioned India’s initiative to provide a platform for the global startup under Startup-20 which treats startups as the growth engine. He also talked of India’s upper hand in AI.
The Prime Minister acknowledged the global desire to learn from Indian youth through hackathons etc. Solutions tested in Indian conditions have global acceptance, he said. He mentioned the National Research Foundation and the 1 lakh crore fund for research and planning for the needs of the future in the sunrise sector areas.
He also underlined the contributions of the youth of India in making it the fifth largest economy in the world from the 11th position and also highlighted the role to be played by startups in fulfilling the guarantee to make India the third largest economy in the third term. Concluding the address, the Prime Minister said that interacting with the youngsters fills him with new energy as he conveyed his best wishes for the future.
Startup Mahakumbh, a pioneering startup event, was organised by ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM, Bootstrap Incubation & Advisory Foundation, TiE and Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), and supported by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
It aimed to be one of the largest get-togethers of startups, unicorns, soonicorns, investors, industry and ecosystem stakeholders to showcase the India story in entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation.
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With the central theme ’Bharat Innovates’, the event featured mentorship clinics, pitch competitions, and a multi-track conference featuring leadership talks, panel discussions, workshops, and a host of activities for startups as well as future entrepreneurs.
