Startups will play important
role to help India be 3rd largest economy: CEA
Startups will play an
important role in helping India become the third largest economy in the world,
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Union government V Anantha Nageswaran has
said.
Nageswaran said that tier-2
and 3 cities, including Kerala's capital, have become game-changers in helping
startups flourish in the country due to improvements in infrastructure and
supportive policies of the government, according to a KSUM release.
The CEA, during his Leadership
Talk on the concluding day of the Huddle Global 2023 organised by the Kerala
Startup Mission (KSUM), said that India was the fifth largest economy on course
to become the third largest in a few years.
"In fact, I will say
7-in-7 is the buzz slogan, that is 7 trillion USD economy in seven years. Seven
trillion USD economy size by 2030 is possible if India maintains its present
growth trajectory, and in that journey startup entrepreneurs are going to play
an important role," he is quoted as having said in the release.
He was of the view that the
active participation of startups in India in developing business models on the
foundation of expanding physical and digital infrastructure will continue to
generate efficiency, revenue and economic returns for the country.
"The last decade has seen
an exceptional transformation in the startup landscape in India, which has
emerged as the third largest ecosystem globally, with over 1.12 lakh startups
presently recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT) across 763 districts.
"Among them, more than
110 are unicorns with a total valuation of around USD 350 billion," he
said.
The CEA further said that the
country ranks second in innovation quality.
He said that innovation in
India was not just limited to certain sectors as startups were solving problems
in 56 industrial sectors, with 13 per cent of them from IT services, nine per
cent from health and life sciences, seven per cent from education, five per
cent from agriculture and five per cent from food and beverages.
Nageswaran also said it was
significant that 49 per cent of the startups were from tier-2 and 3 cities
which have turned to be game-changers as the business advantages in these
locations enable entrepreneurs to operate at lower costs as compared to tier-1
cities.
"Apart from improved
infrastructure and the government's pro-active policies, the availability of a
technically skilled talent pool is a huge advantage for startups to set up and
flourish in tier-2 and tier-3 cities," he said.
He said that historically
there was a perception that small towns were difficult places to conduct
business.
"...but with improved
internet penetration, vastly better physical infrastructure, road, rail and air
connectivity and supportive government policies, this is no longer true,"
he said.
He also noted Kerala's startup
journey has been an inspiring one.
The CEA said that KSUM has
served as the catalyst since its establishment in 2006 to promote change that
propelled the state into the forefront of the global startup arena.
KSUM is the Kerala
government's nodal agency established in 2006 for entrepreneurship development
and incubation activities in the state.
Nageswaran said that with over
4,000 registered tech startups, 63 incubators and 10 lakh square feet of
incubation space, KSUM has not only met its goal of promoting technology-based
entrepreneurship but has also earned the distinguished position of being among
the world's top business incubators.
The November 16-18 fifth
edition of Huddle Global, India's biggest beachside startup conclave, was
organised by KSUM at Adimalathura beach, near Vizhinjam, here.
Attended by around 1,500
delegates, the event displayed sophisticated products from emerging sectors
such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality,
Virtual Reality, life sciences, space tech, blockchain, IoT, e-governance,
fintech, healthtech, agritech, edutech and SaaS from across the country.
www.business-standard.com dt. 20.11.2023