NEW DELHI: While addressing “India First Tech StartUp Conclave-2022” and Awards Summit, as chief guest, here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted India’s vast unexplored potential and said, India will soon emerge as the world’s preferred StartUp destination due to entrepreneurship friendly environment being provided by the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Minister said, the robust ecosystem of StartUps will play a critical role in ensuring that India achieves its goal of a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that in 2016, Prime Minister Modi had announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort about the Start-Up initiative, followed by Stand-Up India and several such visionary initiatives. He said, due to various schemes, focus and support system provided by the government, 10,000 StartUps got registered in India in 2021 alone. He said, India now has 50,000 plus StartUps providing more than 2 lakh jobs in the country.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the recent General Budget of 2022-23 is a “Futuristic Budget with scientific vision and Start-Up incentives”. The Minister said that announcements of innovative new initiatives like Digital Rupee, Digital Banking units in 75 districts, Digital University and Start-Ups linked to Artificial Intelligence, Space Technology, and Drone Shakti are examples of digital push and innovative ecosystem that the government wants to promote. He said, exemption of tax for Start-Ups up to 2024 and other incentives for domestic and export sectors will enable India to take a lead in StartsUps in the World.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the growth of investment opportunities in tech start-ups in sectors such as state services, healthcare, agriculture, financial services, education, retail, and logistics can generate a huge number of job opportunities and contribute to India’s economy. He, however, said that sectors like Dairy, Telemedicine and Deep Sea Ocean Mission must be fully tapped. He said, government is extending full support to promote domestic manufacturing, industry-led research, and the creation of a skilled workforce.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, India is fast becoming a breeding ground for innovations and future trends show opportunities for start-ups to disrupt and innovate with technologies like blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. The Minister also emphasised that the StartUp culture must spread to India’s B-Towns, as this is now mostly confined to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and other big cities. He, however, felt satisfaction over the fact that cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Chennai, and Jodhpur have also witnessed an increase in economic and start-up activities.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that no government in the world can provide salaried jobs to all its citizens and India is no exception to this. He said, on the other hand, Indian government promotes the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship by providing a platform for the generation and sharing of innovative ideas alongside an incubator to mentor and support innovators. He said, the government’s commitment to ensuring that young Indians are prepared to compete in the labour market is reflected in the variety of skill-building programs it has made available.
Dwelling on the concept of “India First”, Dr Jitendra Singh said, over the years, India has proven itself to be an agile technology adopter and developer, given the right circumstances. Pointing out to the emerging trends around digital, data, and technology disruptions around the industries in India, The Minister said, our country is empowering new innovative technology models for opening up a whole lot of technology-related opportunities.
Dr Jitendra Singh also gave away awards to successful StartUps on the occasion.
