Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the notification on Wednesday for the first phase of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, a confident Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that India will become the world’s third-largest economy in his third term in office.
Addressing the Startup Mahakumbh event in the national capital, he said India has already emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem with over 1.25 lakh startups and 110 unicorns. It is charting a roadmap for becoming a developed nation with the right decisions taken at the right time.
India’s startup ecosystem is not limited to metro cities. Youth are driving this ecosystem which has now become a social culture.
In making India the third-largest economy, he said, startups will play a big role.
The Startup India initiative gave a platform to innovative ideas, and connected entrepreneurs and ventures to funding, the PM said.
India’s youth has chosen the path of being job creators rather than job seekers, PM Modi said, highlighting the changing mindset of people.
Women are leading more than 45 percent of Indian startups. India has democratized technology, and therefore the ‘haves and have-nots’ theory cannot work here.
The Rs 1 trillion fund announced for research and innovation in the interim budget will help the sunrise sectors, he added.